U CAN’T TOUCH THIS

Arden Asbæk Gallery is excited to present its fourth exhibition under the title PLATFORM. This time focusing on both craftsmanship and tactility, the exhibition U CAN’T TOUCH THIS presents the works of three emerging artists, each representing a different sense of tactility. From the glossy to the fluffy, from the watery to the rich, these three artists work within vastly different media; textile, ceramics and painting. But what they have in common is just how hard they make keeping your hands to yourself.

Textile composer Signe Emdal’s highly technical works use carefully researched elements and techniques from all over the worlds, creating esoteric and innovative structures unlike anything else. In the series Touch, Icelandic pony wool fibers are transformed into a furry being, reflecting on body memory. These fragile pieces talk about how the body remembers any sort of touch – wanted or unwanted – and hardwires the touch in its memory.

A similar sensuousness lies behind the works by Poppykalas, Behind this pseudonym stands visual artist Thilde Maria Haukohl Kristensen, whose oil paintings are soft and smooth enough to eat. Both the technique and motive is inspired by Haukohl Kristensen’s grandmother, and while floral paintings were traditionally seen as a ‘woman’s work’ (and therefore less important), these pieces invite us to enter a world, where femininity, sensitivity and softness is pronounced with pride.

Ceramist and MA student at RCA Aya Simone Bækhøj Schmidt creates playful sculptures. Through the use of double-glazing, Schmidt creates depth as well as a multitude of textures, from the oily and gooey to the almost latex-like. Her fascination with surfaces elicit both attraction and disgust in the viewer as these inanimate objects come to life before us. Our perception is challenged by the works dynamic appearance and insinuated movements, which not only pique our interest, but can also kickstart our imagination.

Thilde Maria Haukohl Kristensen (b. 1979), also known as Poppykalas, is a floral designer and visual artist, living and working in Copenhagen. She works with different media, including oil painting, fresh, dried, artificial and textile flowers, epoxy and more. Haukohl Kristensen’s work has previously been exhibited at Chart Art Fair, as part of the performance Soil Water Sun, as well as at Thorvaldsens Museum and the North Atlantic Lighthouse in Hanstholm, Thy. In 2022, she was behind the scenography and costumes of the dance performance The Secret Garden at Glyptoteket.

Signe Emdal (b. 1979) is an experienced textile composer, living and working in Copenhagen. Emdal creates sitespecific symbolic pieces that breathes the spirit of a given location, combined with her fusions of cultural textile techniques, highlighting that all nationalities are part of a multicultural structural merge of textile traditions beyond time and borders. Her work has been shown at Skagen Art Museum, the Spring Exhibition 2020, among others. And in 2022, her work will be showcased at the Homo Faber Biennale in Venice.

Aya Simone Bækhøj Schmidt (b. 1995) is a ceramist and MA student at the Royal College of Art in London. She graduated from The Royal Danish Academy’s Programme of Crafts in Glass and Ceramics in 2020, and Schmidt has presented her ceramic work at a number of group shows throughout the years, including at Bornholm Art Museum and CLAY. Her work explores ceramic materials and how inanimate objects can come alive in both their form and how we perceive them.