The year is 1981, and 34-year-old Lin Utzon is an unemployed artist and has just got divorced. Both work and money are scarce, so she contacts friends and acquaintances in her circle of artists and architects to see, if they can use her skills. A friend of hers knows the Italian architect Ronaldo Giurgola and shows him some of Lin Utzon’s previous works – among these her art work in Bagsvaerd Church from 1976.
The architect is excited, and contacts her with an offer to decorate the Volvo headquarters in Gothenburg, which he is in charge of. This leads to three years of continuous work, where she decorates a 36 meter long china wall, designs the director’s table and decorates with tapestries.
"It was ground-breaking for me to get such a big task. In this connection, I developed a transfer technique to porcelain, which made a strong expression in an industrial way. Given the scale of the task I found out, that it suited me well to work with decoration in an architectural context," Lin Utzon says.
The art spreads
Decoration of the Volvo headquarters means that unemployment is a thing of the past, while requests from recognized architects and firms worldwide become a natural part of her life.
The following years she among other things executed the world's largest free-standing china wall in California, a granite wall in a memorial park for the civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King in San Francisco and a series of glass vases for Rosendahl.
It is no coincidence that it suits her well to collaborate with architects. Lin Utzon is the daughter of the world-famous architect Jørn Utzon, who designed the Opera House in Sydney.
"I grew up in a very creative home - which my father himself had built – where it was always a matter of creating something. By five, I was allowed to decorate a show house with candy paper and lollypops. At home I drew all the way round the wall, where our phone was. There was really openness in our home, and already then I was inspired by space," Lin Utzon says.
Along with her duties around the world, she has dribbled her thoughts and ideas down in sketch books.
"As an artist I work all the time with my thoughts and search for perfection. Some of the ideas I have chosen to include in the exhibition in the form of sketches, so that people can see that at times I have been happy with the things I do, and other times I am not sure how to express myself artistically," Lin Utzon explains.
Fascinated by nature
"After some time the portraits gradually changed for capturing nature with the brushes. When I painted nature in color, it did not express, what was on my mind, but with my first black and white drawing, I could see that it clearly expressed what was vital to me," Lin Utzon says.
The nature drawings were the beginning of seven years of work along the coasts, on cliffs and in the wild nature around the world. Lin Utzon paints exclusively in black ink on canvas to get a specific graphic expression, and twelve of these paintings are now exhibited in the Utzon Center under the name "Cosmic Dance."
"I feel a great peace of mind by being in the nature. I am fascinated by the fact that everything comes from the same source, namely the universe or God. With my work "Cosmic Dance" I try to uncover the essence of nature and to show the coherence of everything," says Lin Utzon, who can always find new designs and variations.
"I very much doubt that I will ever finish painting in nature, - life is too short for that."
Close to her father
Her father Jørn Utzon died in November last year, so his last work was the creation of the Utzon Center in his hometown of Aalborg. Therefore, it also has a special significance for Lin Utzon to exhibit here.
"When I walk around in my father's rooms, then it is as if I am allowed to talk to him, and I am happy for that. At the same time we match each other perfectly. The paintings will be seen in the best way in his room with the inflow of light from the ceiling and the view to green areas and water."
Blue Book:
Born 1946
Resident in Mallorca, where she has her workshop, and in Hellebæk, Denmark.
She has a French boyfriend.
She has two children.
Educated from the Art Academy in Sydney (painter and sculpturer), Kunsthåndværkerskolen in Copenhagen (textile) and Margrethe-Skolen in Copenhagen (fashion and cutting out).
Her work ranges widely from series of porcelain and glass to architectural decorations and scenography and costumes for the Royal Ballet.
Daughter of architect Jørn Utzon, who became world famous for the Opera House in Sydney.
You can see this at the exhibition:
180 drawings in the form of photographs and diagrams showing a selection of Lin Utzon’s works, sketches and thoughts about her art from 1976 to 2000.
12 paintings in black and white on oil canvas –"Cosmic Dance."
A selection of Lin Utzon’s porcelain vases
The exhibition can be seen until 13 September 2009.
