Born in the East Jutland, Denmark, Rune Christensen is a self-
taught artist who has traveled
the world and became fascinated with the patterns and colors of traditional handcraft, costumes and the temple decorations of Asia, South America, North Africa and Native America. Shooting
all those artistic memories with
his camera, he uses them as references for his work, both with acrylic paint and Posca/Molotow pens. The result is a collection
of faceless portraits. The female characters, with their horned balaclavas and masks, remind
us of the Russian political rock band Pussy Riot, but they are too busy contemplating their twins or
doing mysterious pagan dances to make punk protests. The men and children are also cryptic – half religious icons, half extras in a music video from the band Fever Ray. The backgrounds are as simple as the characters are intricate, focusing on the tattoos and cloth prints. The peaceful poise of Rune Christensen’s
heroines and heroes create a
very touching mood, somewhere between childhood’s innocence and trendy Scandinavian design.
To see more of Rune Christensen’s art, please go to runechristensen. dk.