Galleri Nicolai Wallner is pleased to present Stykker af og om vævet, a solo exhibition by Anna Kristine Hvid Petersen.

Anna Kristine Hvid Petersen’s practice is primarily within the field of painting. Sublime, rich and meticulous in detail, Hvid Petersen’s paintings transcend our reality as if to create a window into an alternative world.

At first glance, the paintings’ composition and exquisite technique seem to nod towards the traditions of still life, yet this implied simplicity dissolves at closer examination. Shadows are inaccurate. Backgrounds are both captivating and deceptive, pushing the context in new directions. The objects themselves are also unexpected, as Hvid Petersen combines the familiar with the unknown to intentionally create dynamic narratives—the explanations to which feel almost within our grasp. The predominant use of smaller formats echoes this sentiment and this intensity. Their size compels us to come closer, to lean farther in, to almost fall in to this other world, as if our proximity to the works might give way to a deeper understanding of them.

The result is both playful and captivating, as Hvid Petersen’s works cleverly allude to a reality which is ours but is not ours, to a reality that could be playing out not here but somewhere nearby, and to an evolving and growing storyline that builds layer on layer.

Each element in Hvid Petersen’s paintings feels as if it is imbued with a backstory and a life. The paintings veer more into portraiture, scenographies or landscapes, showing us a world in which each element almost become embodied with human characteristics, coyly turning away from us, almost as if to hint that they are aware of our presence and aware of the symbolism and significance they hold. Some elements return in several works, not necessarily tying them together narratively or thematically, but rather underlining the complexity and diversity of the realities Anna Kristine Hvid Petersen creates.

Translated from the original Danish, Hvid Petersen’s exhibition title reads “pieces of and around the tissue”. Within the context of her practice, this idea of tissue does not only refer to actual flesh and blood, but equally refers to the idea of connectivity. In lieu of seeing our world as being made of up individual elements, existing within the same space, Hvid Petersen envisions these elements as continually connected to each other, forever reacting to each other, intentionally and unintentionally shaping one another in a never-ending loop. In this reading, we as the viewer are also intrinsically involved and connected, physically interacting with the paintings as they interact with us.

Anna Kristine Hvid Petersen (b. 1992, Denmark) lives and works in Copenhagen. Hvid Petersen graduated with an MFA from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2022. This show marks Hvid Petersen’s first solo exhibition at the gallery.