Flight

Imagination does not come from nowhere, you need a truly diverse life to fuel it. For example, in Ursula K. Le Guin’s novel The Left Hand of Darkness, the otherwise advanced civilization of the winter planet Gethen hasn’t managed to invent an aircraft for a very simple reason: there are no birds on the planet. Krista Mölder has been capturing birds, butterflies and airplanes for some time already. In my delirium of Impressionism I tend to associate this with a certain modernist technological enthusiasm – learning to fly as the greatest achievement of humankind. This, however, may not apply for Mölder very well. In her work she seeks ways to bring out the force in our everyday life that gives us wings. Be lightweight, be like a bird! Not someday, but here and now! In addition to repetitions, the artist has a habit of supplementing her photographs with elements of installation: video projections or kinetic objects. For example, model aircrafts in various states displayed in glass showcases resemble butterflies pinned to a board or bird skins collected in a drawer. Indeed, they once flew, but are now captured in a jar forever. They seem to be a material symbol of time in her photographs, standing still and moving at the same time.