Trude Viken Norway, b. 1969

Trude Viken is a colorist without restrictions. In her works, the smell and texture of the chunky layers of oil paint linger as both a physical and emotional expression. Her portraits of expressive faces develop into fantasies about our interior lives and most palpable yet often suppressed feelings, providing associations to the space where the grotesque meets the erotic and eventually the humorous.

The intensity of Viken’s expression is characterized by heavy impasto. Far from shying away from them, Viken revels in portraying the excesses of the subconscious and the rawness of human experience, which seem to bubble up and erupt onto the canvas, refusing to be suppressed by the canons of contemporary life, in search for release.

Trude Viken (b. 1969) studied with the painter Markus Brendmoe, Oslo, Norway. Recent exhibitions include Midnight Activities at Belenius Gallery, 2022, Stockholm (SE), Midnight Theater, Fortnight Institute, 2021, New York (USA), Night Eyes, Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, 2021, Norway (NO) and Unmasked at M+B, 2019, Los Angeles (USA). Trude Viken lives and works in Oslo.