During the past year I have been swimming regularly and been fascinated by the environment in the changing room in the swim house. Here I meet other bodies – old ladies, women of my own age, girls in teens and mothers with their daughters. Here, the gaze is different, others’ gaze on me and then my own look at others and myself. I experience a silent agreement, like a kind of solidarity. Nudity is not sexualized or competitive, but rather forgiving and accepting. The body is just a body. The swim house visits have made me want to investigate the body’s materiality in this environment. The organic and soft body in contrast to the tiled, chlorinated, wet, occasionally dirty, changing room.

Pictures from the exhibition Materien, Situasjonen, Rammen at Nordnorsk Kunstnersenter, Svolvær, Norway. An exhibition together with the artist Liv Dessen.

Photo: Kjell Ove Storvik