Mie Olise Kjærgaard (b. 1974) works in painting, sculptural objects and installation. Since graduating in 2008 with a Master in Fine Art, her work has focused on the theme of man-made constructions. Through her paintings, Olise investigates both the nature of the architectural construction as well as how a construction describes the society, it is a part of.
In her latest work, Olise Kjærgaard has investigated modern ruins in Latin America, and how these contemporary ruins are deserted and occupied again; in horisontal layers with new architectural strategies – very different from the original ideas about function and appearance. This project has been exhibited at Museo de Arte Acarigua in Venezuela under the title ”Discontinued Monuments”.
In architectural terms, breaking with the initial intention and purpose of a construction is dubbed a ”dishonest construction” – this is what Kjærgaard addresses in her most recent works.
Kjærgaard has travelled to societies in different stages of disrepair: twice to the Arctic Circle, to investigate an abandoned Russian mine town, The Pyramid; and to New Foundland in the tracks of the writer/character Espen Arnakke, which was the topic of the solo show at Kunsthalle Nikolaj (DK) in 2012.
Kjærgaard has exhibited at UMOCA – Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, MFAH – Museum of Fine Art Houston, MAAA – Museo de Arte Acarigua, Venezuela; Nikolaj Kunsthal (DK), SNYK – Skive New Museum of Art, (DK), Torrance Art Museum in LA; Barbara Davis Gallery, Houston Texas; Honor Fraser, LA; Samuel Freeman, LA; Duve Berlin and Galleri Kant in Copenhagen.
Kjærgaard holds an MFA from Central St. Martins in London and a Master in Architecture from Aarch, Aarhus(DK)/The Bartlett, UCL, London (UK). In recent years, she has been based simultaneously in London, New York and Copenhagen; travelling to residencies in Iceland, Berlin and Skowhegan, Maine.
