Ellen Jakobsson Strømsø (S)
A Leopard Never Loses Its Spots.

In 1977 Lillian Bye, the first principal of Sosialskolen (The School of Social work) in Trondheim, Norway, wrote in the Norwegian periodical Samtiden: “Is this the historical moment when something new will form, and something consistently important will manifest itself in our time?” But unfortunately humans are not known for their ability to learn from their mistakes. We are, possibly, not equipped for, or able to take in, the knowledge passed on to us through historians’ many volumes. Recurring in Ellen Jakobsson Strømsø’s works are numerous symbols. While the hammer and sickle has a distinct political reference, the bicycle and forest appear more mysterious and are open for personal associations. By putting the political up against the personal, the artist’s ever-returning question is how the individual can induce change in a larger political context.

About Ellen Jakobsson Strømsø
Ellen Jakobsson Strømsø is preoccupied with how politics mix into our daily lives, and how we ourselves can influence politics. There are elements of patterns in most of her work, and her fascination of wall papers is often a starting point.

Ellen was born 1977 in Stockholm, Sweden and now lives and works in Oslo, Norway. She graduated from Bergen National Academy of the Arts in 2004 and has since worked both inside and outside of the gallery room.