Moa Håkansson

To explain a body

11 March - 27 June 2021

In the exhibition To explain a body Moa Håkansson presents abstract ceramic sculptures installed on floor and wall. The visual language is organic and hints at plants, animals, internal organs and biological processes. By building and installing her own universe Håkansson constructs narratives. Many of the artworks appear as individual creatures interacting with each other.
 
Håkansson’s work process is investigative. The primary material is clay. After the firing she explores further techniques for visual processing. Materials such as wood or textiles are sometimes combined with the ceramic object to strengthen the narrative dimension.

Håkansson’s artistic practice revolves around existential questions. She is interested in the human being as a whole: a unit of biological, psychological, cultural, and historical phenomena. To explain a body expresses visual stories about experiences in life, such as vitality, play, ambition, struggle, contradiction, insecurity, resignation, change and development.
 
Moa Håkansson (b. 1987, Kristianstad, Sweden) lives and works in Oslo. She holds a Master of Fine Arts (2016) from Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Norway, where she currently works as a university lecturer. Håkansson has held a solo exhibition at Nääs konsthantverk (2019) in Floda, Sweden, and participated in a number of juried group exhibitions in Europe such as The Annual Exhibition of The Norwegian Association for Arts and Crafts (2020) in Tromsø, (2017) Trondheim, (2016) Fredrikstad and (2014) Bergen, Norway, Talente (2018) in Munich, Germany, Everything is connected (2017) during Milan design week, Italy, The Annual Spring Exhibition (2015) in Copenhagen, Denmark, and The National Annual Autumn Exhibition (2014) in Oslo, Norway. She was also one of the participants in the project Nordic Hands (2018) in Aarhus, Denmark.