Thea Løvstad is a Norwegian photographer and self proclaimed ‘eco artists’. Through her work she seeks to “raise questions about ecological and climate issues” and “engage the viewer to explore the relationship between the human body and how it is affected by its surroundings” (Løvstad, 2020). Both of these aspects resonate with the aims of my own project. Especially, her photographs from the series ‘Ivory’ immediately spoke to me.

Here, Løvstad positioned the human body either within a natural setting, like the rocks or the woods, or placed natural objects such as shells onto different body parts. There is a sense of fragility emanating from the human subject and nature acts almost like the protector, shielding intimate parts of the body from the gazing viewer, the outside world. It evokes a sensual connection between us humans and the natural world which provides us with shelter and effortless beauty at the same time.

I drew upon Løvstad’s work when developing my ideas for the ‘biodiversity’ theme of my project. For my photos I stuck flowers onto the face using tape to symbolise an almost desperate effort to reconnect to nature, both in order to protect it and seek protection/solace from it.

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