Through the lens of feminist mythology and the biological mechanics of oxytocin, Danish artist Ditte Ejlerskov translates the weight of contemporary care into the permanence of bronze.
The work of Ditte Ejlerskov operates at the intersection of the primal and the digital, the mythological and the biological. Since graduating from the Malmö Art Academy in 2009, the Danish artist has navigated a complex path through the visual languages of our time, from the hyper-saturated aesthetics of celebrity culture and internet imagery to a profound, internalized exploration of chromotherapy and feminist history. Her practice does not merely observe these phenomena; it adopts their mechanisms, using the tactile surfaces of painting and sculpture to interrogate how power, gender, and emotional labor are encoded in the images we consume and the stories we tell ourselves.
In her collaboration with Edition Solenne, Ejlerskov has moved toward a material gravity that anchors these conceptual investigations. While her early career was marked by a deep skepticism toward the traditional medium of painting, a skepticism fostered by the academic environments of the late 2000s, her recent output reveals a masterful command of form. By transitioning from the ethereal glow of digital screens and the woven textures of sliced canvases to the ancient permanence of cast bronze, Ejlerskov has found a way to formalize the invisible structures of human connection. Her work with the gallery represents a significant synthesis of her career-long inquiry into the mechanics of the gaze and the biological imperatives that drive survival and intimacy.
Origins and the Autodidact Path
Born in 1982 in Frederikshavn, Denmark, Ditte Ejlerskov entered the art world during a period of profound institutional transition. Her education took her through the Funen Art Academy, the Cooper Union School of Art in New York, and finally the Malmö Art Academy. Despite this rigorous pedigree, she often describes herself as an autodidact in the subjects that define her most celebrated works. In the academic climate of the mid-2000s, painting was frequently regarded with suspicion, viewed as a commercial or domestic tool rather than a viable site for critical inquiry. Ejlerskov has recalled that at the academy in Malmö, there was no painting professor, and conversations with faculty often centered on why she continued to engage with such an arguably outmoded medium.
This resistance became the catalyst for one of her most ambitious early projects, the five-meter-long encyclopedia titled 'Unbreak My Heart, Say You’ll Love me again' (2009). This work was as much a conceptual act as a painterly one; it was an attempt to understand how one could even become a painter in a world that had declared the medium dead. By treating painting as an archive to be organized and a contract to be negotiated, she bypassed the romantic myths of the artist, instead positioning herself as a researcher of visual codes. This analytical distance allowed her to explore themes of fame, specifically through the iconography of mainstream pop stars like Rihanna and Beyoncé, without succumbing to simple fandom. Instead, she treated their images as modern avatars of the muse, exploring how the female body is used to project power and vulnerability in equal measure.
It was almost forbidden to paint when I wanted to learn it. I think the attitudes toward painting are very time-bound; especially after the financial crisis, it was logical that a commercial medium like painting was unpopular.
The Practice: From Power to Biology
Ejlerskov's broader oeuvre is characterized by its technical versatility. She works across woven and painted canvases, 3D printing, installation, and augmented reality. In 2017, this diverse skill set culminated in her official portrait of former Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt for the gallery at Christiansborg. The portrait was not a traditional study in oil but a testament to Ejlerskov’s ability to navigate the politics of representation. Following this high-profile commission, her focus shifted from the public theater of politics to the private, internal theater of the body. Her series 'The Inverted Pyramid' and her explorations of chromotherapy saw her using color as a tool for healing and spiritual inquiry, moving away from found internet imagery toward something more essential and rhythmic.
Her exhibitions at institutions such as Nikolaj Kunsthal, Viborg Kunsthal, and Kristianstad Konsthall have frequently functioned as immersive environments. In these spaces, the boundaries between the work and the viewer are deliberately blurred. Her practice has evolved to examine the 'Base Reality' of human experience, looking past the surface of contemporary culture to the biological underpinnings of why we feel, why we attach, and why we protect. This shift led her to the Goddess of Oxytocin, a recurring motif in her recent work that reimagines biological hormones as mythological deities. Through this lens, oxytocin is not merely a chemical released during bonding; it is a structural force, a 'Hectic Space' that requires both softness and rigid boundaries to function.
In Conversation: The Status of the Made Object
In her dialogues regarding her practice, Ejlerskov often reflects on the tension between the commercial art market and the critical necessity of high art. She has noted the recent resurgence of painting, sometimes with a touch of irony, observing a 'macho-auction-painting-race' that ignores the critical schooling she found so stifling yet formative. For Ejlerskov, however, the choice of medium is never accidental. She has insisted that a painted image or a cast object gains a depth that a digital print cannot achieve. The act of making is, for her, a survival mechanism, a way to 'set the head free' from the constant noise of the information age.
Can people in general allow themselves to be flattered and manipulated so directly when looking at art?
This question of manipulation and flattery is central to her work with Edition Solenne. By creating objects that are physically heavy and materially precious, she asks the viewer to slow down. The transition to bronze casting at the historic Fonderia Artistica Mariani in Italy allows her to translate her conceptual explorations of 'The Muse' into a form that possesses a physical record of the hand that made it, hardened into an alloy that will outlast the current cultural moment. This material choice is a defiance of the fleeting nature of the digital world she occupies elsewhere in her practice.
The Works with Edition Solenne
The centerpiece of Ejlerskov's collaboration with Edition Solenne is 'The Cast Soft Gaze' (2026). This significant work, standing 44 cm high, represents a restrained yet charged embodiment of the Goddess of Oxytocin. Rendered in bronze and mounted upon a veined onyx block, the sculpture captures a moment of controlled intimacy. The figure's presence is calm and withdrawn, yet there is a undeniable weight to the form. Here, softness is presented not as a sentimental weakness but as a deliberate, structural choice. The lowered gaze of the figure suggests a state of regulation and self-possession, reflecting Ejlerskov's interest in how we manage our own neurobiology in the face of external stressors.
In this sculpture, the artist introduces a fascinating physical boundary: a shield-like extension that flows from the figure's neck. This element transforms the work from a simple bust into a conceptual statement on the nature of protection as a necessary counterpart to connection. It suggests that for one to be truly vulnerable and 'soft,' there must be an accompanying architecture of defense. The goddess figure thus becomes a stabilizing force, quiet and authoritative. The contrast between the smooth, serene facial planes and the assertive sculptural extension creates a tension that is characteristic of Ejlerskov’s recent investigations into the mechanics of love and survival.
The material execution of 'The Cast Soft Gaze' is as much a part of the work as its subject matter. Cast at Fonderia Artistica Mariani, the work utilizes the traditional lost-wax and vacuum-shell methods, capturing the finest surface details of the artist's original touch. Each of the 50 editions features a varying patina, meaning that while the form remains consistent, the 'skin' of each sculpture has its own unique chemical history. The use of wax and heat to seal these patinas ensures that the bronze will age gracefully, a physical record of the hand that made it. This permanence stands in direct opposition to the ephemeral images of the internet that once flooded Ejlerskov's canvases.
Finally, the mounting of the bronze figure on an onyx block adds a layer of geological time to the work. The onyx, with its natural banding and translucency, provides a soft, organic contrast to the density of the bronze. It elevates the figure, both literally and metaphorically, suggesting a relic of a myth that is both ancient and yet-to-be-written. Through 'The Cast Soft Gaze,' Ejlerskov invites the collector to reconsider care as something guarded and intentional, a structural necessity for the modern human condition. It is a work of material precision that marks a new chapter in her ongoing study of how we inhabit our bodies and our hearts.
Closing
Ditte Ejlerskov has successfully translated the skeptical, analytical energy of her early 'Encyclopedia' days into a mature practice that embraces the profound weight of human connection. Her collaboration with Edition Solenne represents a solidification of these themes, moving the discourse from the screen to the stone and the flame. In 'The Cast Soft Gaze,' she offers a mirror to the contemporary soul: one that is simultaneously open and shielded, regulated and dreaming. As her practice continues to evolve, these bronze works remain as anchors, reminding us that even in a digital age, our most profound experiences are still rooted in the heavy, beautiful reality of the body.
