Name Etiye Poulsen | ||
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Etiyé Dimma Poulsen (born 1968) is an Ethiopian-born Danish sculptor known for her work in ceramics.
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Biography
Until she was six, Poulsen lived in Ethiopia, moving to Tanzania and then Kenya with her adoptive parents. They were Danes, and moved the family to Denmark when she was fourteen. There she studied art history in college and taught art in various youth programs. Initially focusing on painting landscapes using oil on canvas, her interest in creating primitive art spurred her move to France at 23 and began working with clay; currently, she lives and works at a studio in Antwerp, Belgium.
Her inspiration comes from traditional statues or tribal styles but with her own feelings and memories worked into them. "What really seduces me is the different variations of human features," Poulsen remarks. "The more simple and sober my forms are, the more expressive they seem. If you take a close look at the sculptures, you'll be surprised to find that the expressions on the faces are actually generated merely by a cracked line that traces an eye or a wrinkle....It seems as if exactly through corrosion and fragmentation, the opposite--life--emerges."
Technique
Poulsen is most known for creating filiform ceramic sculptures. "Her technique consists of applying a thin layer of clay on an iron mesh to produce, when fired, worn-out looking ‘primitive’ figures. The cracks that occur form an eye or a wrinkle, contributing to the expressions on the faces; thus strong and delicate features are achieved simultaneously."
Poulsen's work is in the collection of the National Museum of African Art in Washington, DC.
Work
Since 1990, Poulsen has done individual exhibitions in Denmark, France, the USA, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon and Switzerland. Then, starting in 1992, she started doing group shows in Spain, Palma de Mallorca, Belgium, United States, and France.
Solo exhibitions
Joint exhibitions
2010: Beddington Fine Art Bargemon, Joint Exhibition with Christian Destieu 21 August - 16 October 2010, Group Sculpture Beddington Fine Art 10th Anniversary Exhibition Gallery Garden Bargemon from the 26th of June 2010, Galerie Elfie Bohrer Zurich
2007: Terre Noire "Ousmane Sow et les tendances de la sculpture africaine d'aujourd'hui", Musée Départemental Maurice Denis, St- Germain- en Laye
2006: Les 4 Saisons, L'Hiver Inge Horup & Etiyé Dimma Poulsen Beddington Fine Art Bargemon
Museum collections
The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, USA, The Hans Bogatzke Collection of Contemporary African Art, Germany, The Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington, Newark Museum, New Jersey, Hood Museum, Hanover, New Hampshire, La Piscine, Roubaix, France