Contemporary paintress. Born 1969. Lives and works in Oslo, Norway.
Educated at Nydalen Art School in visual arts. Previously completed courses in watercolour painting, porcelain painting and photography.
Welcome, I am Mona.
Poetic, nature-inspired art
I am an explorer of conversations beyond words
I communicate with visual art. I convey beyond the words. In my paintings, I seek to convey the limitless and free, open to the viewer’s own interpretation. I work outside of words – outside of the language that is usually used to communicate information and beliefs.
My art is an exploration of everyday life and moods in the surroundings, with a special emphasis on the senses and memories these evoke in the present. I am concerned with what is seen, felt, heard, smelled and tasted in the moment, and how these sensory impressions are stored as fragments of the past, recalled in the future.
I convey by moving tools over the surface, whether it is on canvas or paper. In this process, memories of sensory impressions are recreated through the tool’s speed and strength.
My color palette reflects the colors of nature for the season in which the work is created. I often start with specific shapes and an inner atmosphere, although the result is often abstract and fluid.
The motifs that arise can be rock formations, mountains, hills, forests and trees – elements that carry with them the feeling of being in nature, rather than an exact reproduction of nature. These motifs reflect sensory experiences from different places and times, such as the feeling of wind against the skin, the sound of running water, the smell of forest floor and sea, the taste of snow, and the sight of nature’s changing colors through the seasons.
Exhibitions
Gallery Nyksund brygge, Nyksund (June 29th – August 18th 2025). Attending group exhibition with figurative paintings with motif from Lofoten and Vesterålen.
Gallery OMK, Oslo (June 21st – 29th 2025). Solo exhibition. The exhibition includes paintings from the series “Symphony”, “Timeless Motion” and “Eternal Interaction”. It also included works in watercolours and ink from the series “When the world quivers”.
A14 studios, Oslo (March 27 th – April 6 th 2025). Group exhibition. Attending with paintings in acrylics on canvas from the series “Surroundings”.
Galleri OMK, Oslo
(November 9 th – November 17 th, 2024)
Group exhibition. Attending with paintings in acrylics on canvas from the series “Symphony”.
Galleri Minneparken, Oslo
(August 10 th – September 1 st, 2024)
Group exhibition. Attending with paintings in acrylics on canvas from the series “Symphony”.
Galleri Minneparken, Oslo
(June 10 th – June 12 th, 2023)
Group exhibition. Attending with paintings in acrylics on canvas from the series “Climes”.
Galleri Minneparken, Oslo
(May 13 th – May 15 th, 2022)
Group exhibition. Attending with collages for the series “Spring collection”.
Galleri M15, Oslo
(June 10 th – June 13 th, 2021)
Group exhibition. Attended with the project “Lines”. Acrylics on board and sketchbook. Both presented sculptural. Lines also included one acrylic painting on canvas.
Nydalen art school, Oslo
(December 2020)
Digital student exhibition due to the ongoing corona pandemic. Attended with four self portraits in acrylics on canvas.
Nydalen art school, Oslo
(December 2019)
Student exhibition. Attended with two landscape paintings. Acrylics on canvas and paper.
Nydalen art school, Oslo
(June 2019)
Student exhibition. Attended with three acrylic paintings on canvas.
Mona Bjørnstad 