Martine Poppe : East of the Sun and West of the Moon

 

Snow-laden branches, lily ponds, rocky mountain sides, tropical gardens, sun-split cloudscapes – East of the Sun and West of the Moon, Norwegian artist Martine Poppe’s solo exhibition at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Tower Bridge, takes us on a journey through distant terrains. These landscapes emerge through a haze, as though coming into focus under a blinding beam of light, each infused with a particular kind of magic. Here, we are invited to be both reader and protagonist – artist and adventurer – coming together to explore and conjure new worlds.

 

The exhibition takes its title from a Norwegian fairy tale, which Poppe describes as a ‘blueprint’ for storytelling: a tale that encapsulates both a physical and metaphorical journey. This sense of transformation and discovery underpins the show as well as Poppe’s broader interest in the concept of a fairy tale – how stories travel across geographical, social, and cultural boundaries; how they convey a sense of hope and possibility rooted in a closeness to, and awe of, the natural world. ‘To me, landscapes combine the longing for the beginning with the excitement of exploration and the desire to map uncharted territories,’ she says. ‘They make me see the lines, colours, and shapes differently – revealing to the imagination other ways of life and realities that are just as possible.’

 

Merging the poetic allure of storytelling with pixelated photography and painterly intervention, the exhibition unfolds as a series of visual chapters – landscapes that hover between the familiar and strange. Poppe draws on imagery from her own photographic archives, art history and fairy tales to create settings that feel both universal and elusive. Like fairy tales that differ in detail but share common threads, these are places that exist both nowhere and everywhere.

 

This sense of timelessness draws us into the work. We can imagine gazing at the reflections of palm trees on the glassy surface of a lily pond, standing among snow-covered trees, or witnessing the almost holy expansiveness of sunlight breaking through clouds. These are not just imagined images – they’re reminders of places we’ve been, feelings we’ve held, or longings we carry. In this way, Poppe’s landscapes become spaces for contemplation and connection, shaped as much by the viewer’s own memories and inner worlds as by the artist’s vision.

 

Taking inspiration from the likes of Monet, Delacroix, Klimt and Hiroshi Yoshida, Poppe creates luminous, layered scenes through rhythmic brushstrokes and subtle distortions. The translucent sail cloth onto which she paints diffuses the colours and light, lending them a wavering, dreamlike quality. The works vary in scale – some feel like quiet windows, others like unfolding vistas – but each invites a moment of stillness, of drifting inward, as though we might fall headfirst through the canvas and into the painted world.

 

There is a joyfulness in these works: in their expansiveness, but also in the subject matter – in offering up the beauty of nature as a source of healing and inspiration, as an invitation to dream. As Poppe says: ‘A lot of what is happening in the world right now is saddening and it’s not about ignoring that, but finding the energy and inspiration to imagine new alternatives.’