MUNTHE ART MONDAY: Mette Rix

Introduce yourself and what you do.
My name is Mette Rix. I am a visual- and textile-artist. I have worked with many different media and techniques, including oil painting, drawing and stained glass, but in recent years I have especially immersed myself in huge linoleum cuts (310x120 cm), which I print on silk webs. It is especially the irrevocability of the consequence of the cutting technique that fascinates me. Right now I am exhibiting at Kunstetagerne in Hobro, Museum of Modern Art.
For the last few months I have been working on studies of flowers. Flowers in different stages, wild flowers and garden flowers. I have been working on paper with dry pastels and crayons.

What I do?
Tributes to Life ...
See more of my works at: www.metterix.com or in the book “Textile Art in Denmark 2008-2018”, published by Forlaget på Tredje. I am a member of BKF - Billedkunstnernes Forbund and KKS - Kvindelige Kunstneres samfund.

What is the most challenging thing about being a female artist?
The most challenging thing about being a female artist has been carrying or being carried by Loneliness. I have lived and live with Loneliness. When I was younger it was a pervasive feeling. As I grew into Life, Loneliness took on the character of a state, a way of being in Life. A work space, a possible space, a space of possibilities. Maybe loneliness is a part of women's lives? Maybe loneliness is a condition that is inherent as an Artist? Maybe a condition in Life? Fortunately, I have had people who have supported me, who have called ... enticed with honesty .. coffee and talk.

Name: Mette Rix
Instagram: rixpaint
Website: metterix.com

Explain your process.
I observe... A process often begins without me noticing it. An admiration that is not manifested. Maybe I’ll draw a little ... maybe something catches on. I work intuitively, not in concepts. The technique, the tool, the materials have one dialogue in them. My part is listening. I send out small lines, delineate areas, search in a myriad of ways. I draw ... small drawings… and in the process the essence emerges of what it is I am about to tell. I work in long strokes, often with several works at the same time, from surface to surface.
And time becomes a factor, giving time as the work demands it. The rhythm of the work emerges, each time in its own way.

What impact has COVID 19 had on your work?
In the month of March 2020, I found myself in an apartment where I had just moved in. There was not really anything that worked and I had no workshop. I had a stack of glass, wrapped in brown paper and colors in two baskets. I painted and slept and painted. I painted 35 pictures in the format 30 x 25 cm. The images were created under the title "In All Worlds". I described stigma, hopelessness, reaching for nothing, reaching for just a little, rigor and abandonment. I described blindness and recognition. The glass images are painted with a background glass technique, where the image surface is painted mirror-inverted in relation to the side of the glass surface where the image is viewed. It was a special Time ... a Time that changed Time.

If you could own a work of art, what would it be and why?
If I could own one work of art, it would be “Allegory of Winter” by Remedios Varo from 1948. The work is gouache on paper, 44 x 44 cm. When I see this picture, I smile. I would love to be able to see it .. walk past it, move a chair over and enjoy it, or cut bread and look up at it ’.. the painting. The work can be seen at the Queen Sofia Museum in Madrid.

Photographer: Søren Friis

Each monday we publish a new interview with a female artist. Follow MUNTHE ART MONDAY here.