This month, we focus on artworks with a summery touch that remind us of the upcoming season, both through the use of color and motif. Through glowing colors and the blooming of nature, we experience a renewed sense of life and joy. These artworks serve as visual reminders of the vibrant energy that accompanies the summer months.

Audun Alvestad (b. 1980, Ålesund) graduated from the Bergen Academy of Art and Design (MA, BA) with an exchange at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen.

Alvestad has made his mark within the wave of naive figurative painting and is known for his exploration of society's shifting gender roles and social structures. The artist's work is characterized by a distinctive and playful painterly language, with a unique color palette that includes pastels as well as deeper shades of blue and purple. His paintings often feature themes touching on interpersonal and tragicomic scenes that viewers can relate to. He draws inspiration from everyday scenes, and his motifs depict social situations, often with an underlying humorous approach. Viewers are presented with people in various situations, such as cycling, bathing, shopping, or hanging out in the park—scenes that most can recognize from their own lives and surroundings. The characters often remain anonymous while the surroundings are familiar, creating a place that feels both known and distant, safe yet elusive.

Alvestad's paintings can be interpreted as an exploration of loneliness and social challenges, while also reflecting contemporary society and the individual's search for their place within it. He seeks to portray the underlying human longing for belonging and stability in a chaotic world. Through the titles of his artworks, he adds an extra layer of meaning, encouraging viewers to reflect more deeply on the actions depicted.

Alvestad's works have been acquired by both private and public collections, including The Bunker Artspace Museum, The Preuss Collection, The Azman Museum, and The Drake Collection.

Hilde Honerud (b. 1977, NO) graduated from Napier University of Edinburgh and the Oslo National Academy of the Arts.

In recent years, Honerud has worked on the relationship between geopolitical events and the individual from a humanistic perspective, expressed through photographs that highlight various man-made situations. Honerud has explored themes such as what it is like to be a child in Palestine and grow up in a prolonged political conflict, and what it is like to live in transit reception centers and refugee camps. This issue is particularly highlighted in the series GYM, where Honerud photographed and processed images taken through her long-term engagement with the initiative 'Yoga and Sport with Refugees' in the Moria camp on Lesvos. Honerud also works on projects addressing images in news, natural disasters, and the rhetorical use of images.

Honerud's works closely align with a journalistic and documentary style, yet the subjects are far from classic disaster photography. She intertwines the reflective, political, and ordinary into a narrative, exploring the complex relationship between form and content. Through a formal approach, Honerud aims to investigate how precarious political and social conditions can be experienced through the everyday and familiar.

Ellen Grieg (b. 1948, Oslo) graduated from the National College of Art and Design in Oslo, the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava, and the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague.

Throughout her extensive artistic career, she has developed profound knowledge of various techniques and color applications. Grieg's works are characterized by an abstract language in textile materials where patterns, colors, structures, and materiality are the core elements. Recently, Grieg has been working on the series Transformations, where thick colored ropes hang freely in the space; they are voluminous, occupy physical space, and also visual space through the use of strong colors, interplay of light and shadow, and materiality. The abstract language emphasizes the materiality and simultaneously creates an immediate experience of the artwork. The pieces are often shaped into vibrant spirals hanging from the ceiling, unraveling more and more as the threads extend downward. Through her uninhibited play with ropes and textiles, Grieg has perpetually renewed the relevance of textile art in Norwegian art history.

Grieg's works have been acquired by, among others, the National Museum, the Oslo Municipality Art Collection, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Arts Council Norway.

Ditte Ejlerskov (b. 1982, Fredrikshavn, DK) graduated from the Malmö Art Academy in 2009.

Ejlerskov has previously engaged with mainstream culture and politics in her art. In recent years, she has drawn inspiration from personal experiences related to hormones such as oxytocin and adrenaline, commonly known as the love and stress hormones. These two hormones cannot coexist, making their relationship a struggle between two extremes. Ejlerskov has been particularly interested in the psychological and emotional forces and how they influence behavior and relationships.

Ejlerskov's works are included in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Roskilde (DK), Vendsyssel Art Museum (DK), ARKEN Museum of Modern Art (DK), MASP - Museu de Arte de São Paulo (BR), Sørlandet Art Museum (NO), Malmö Art Museum (SE), City of Lund Art Collection (SE), The Danish Arts Agency (DK), CCA, Centre of Contemporary Art, Andratx (ES), The National Public Art Council Sweden, University of Lund (SE), Region Skåne (SE), Nykredit (DK), Fagligt Fælles Forbund (DK), and Det Musiske Hus (DK).

Josefine Lyche (b. 1973, Bergen) graduated from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts.

Lyche explores the connection between non-figurative, post-conceptual painting and a kind of cosmic, psychedelic, and New Age iconography, infused with references to classical painterly forms given esoteric enhancements. Her works are characterized by a combined materiality and striking visuality that point toward the notion of a beyond with promises of eternal spiritual enlightenment. She primarily works within the abstract field and has made a significant mark in painting and sculpture, focusing in recent years on exhibitions and site-specific works.

Lyche's works have been acquired by numerous private and public collections, including the National Museum, Caviar Factory, Oslo Municipality Art Collection, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, KLP, and DNB NOR.