I respectfully propose an exhibition of work by Norwegian Artist Vanessa Baird to the panel of BienalSur. As curator, I have been working with her for the last two years. She has critical acclaim and awards in Norway, and only recently began to attain exhibitions outside with showings in London, New York and Kochi. Her work is bold and timely, connecting across boundaries of language or society.

Vanessa’s works in pastel and watercolour range from room-size murals to intimate self-portraits and draw on a wide range of references from the artist's own lived experiences, as well as from Scandinavian folklore. Whether depicting 'her world', the domestic chaos of caring for her elderly mother and teenage children, or commenting on the wider political and social landscape, her imagery is provocatively raw in its exploration of motherhood, sex, shame, illness, exhaustion and the ageing female body. They are simultaneously beautiful and brutal, and it is notable for a woman to own and use this inventive, sometimes perverse, visual language. The universal yet highly personal themes in Vanessa’s work connect with ideas threaded through contemporary artistic practice that explore the body and bodily experience, especially prescient now in an age of social distance.

For BienalSur, I propose large scale mural type presentation, which create an immersive and visually complicated tableau, which propose a story that the viewer must work to piece together.