Marianne Broch MRSS
Marianne Broch works with a variety of natural materials, but keeps coming back to wood in its different forms, from large logs to untreated twigs and even cellulose.
Her approach is sober and down to earth. Grounded in daily work and life itself, her work is a search for the core of everything - something constant and unchangeable.
Form and texture is central to Broch's art. The tree is monumental and malleable and presents endless possibilities.
Clear references to forestry and Norwegian culture can be found in her pieces; but she also draws parallels to the particular, the individual. The walking stick represents the life journey we all undertake, reflected in its cracks and growth rings, our frailties outlined in the fragile graining of the tree mass.
In attempting to penetrate and expose the material of the tree, the artist reveals something of the human behind the mask.
Wandering in forests and mountains in search of materials is an important part of Broch´s process, as is the physical work required to form the wood. She seeks to transform familiar experiences and natural phenomena into objects that transcend their origin., and to guide the viewer to see things afresh. These works power comes from the forests and from folk culture, but they express something unexpected when they are given new forms and placed in our time.