Eternity in a moment – solo exhibition at Kunsthuset Kabuso

Simone Hooymans
Eternity in a Moment

Solo exhibition 
From 8th February until 4th May 2025
Kunsthuset Kabuso Øystese, Norway
Curated by Sissel Lillebostad

A weightless logic reigns in Simone Hooymans´world.
Mysterious creatures swing gently under a changing sky while birds slowly soar into a starry infinity, before the world slides into green little hills with tubular flowers that pop up and release hundreds of water-clear drops.
peculiar plants sway sofly in an invisible wind, buds turn into flowers and leisurely rise between grey tree trunks before the sturdy trees tear themselves free and float away, a floating parade between round mountain peaks.
This is a universe that is constantly on its way to becoming something else, where nothing is fixed, and gravity has dissolved. Here even the heavy mountains slide out, bit by bit. It is a world where catastrophes are disguised wrapped in the beauty of the drawing and the vibrant tones of its colors. But it is also a world where landslides and earthquakes open for regrowth, with new creatures making room where old structures have collapsed and dissapeared.

What do we know about the smallest lives, those we only grasp from the description and imagination of natural science? How do they grow, live and die? In Chapel of Very Small Creations, Simone has taken some of the smallest creatures from the studies of Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919), a German zoologist and philosopher who saw kinship between art and biology. Simone has lifted the tiny creatures out of Heackel´s 2-dimensional  drawings and given them 2 new dimensions, space and time. It is here, in this universe, that they come to life and become part of the world we all move in.

We must not forget the ornament. In Simone´s world, the plants, fish, underwater plants, birds and trees are also drawn as ornaments. Flowers slowly grow while forming rhythmic figures, in a stylized language that belongs to cultural history. The images may be taken from nature, but this is nature seen fro the perspective of culture. Nature handled by culture is mostly a scenic work. Here nature has been given it´s role, we have adorned it with names and family-tree, lines and costumes. 

The music plays an important role in her films, made by, amongst others, Terje Isungset and Mari kvien Brunvoll. It creates atmosphere and underlines the narrative and expands the space for interpretation.

For as long as we can remember, we have equipped the nature around us with masks and myths, creating lengends and weave invisible bonds between humans and animals, between us and other living creatures. Simone thus stands in an ancient tradition. What we call art is countless atmepts to understand, comprehend and live with both our own nature and the one we live in. Simone´s artwork is an invitation to let yourself be carried away, into the wonder, the unrest and the joy of creation. Just let yourself be led astray, accept the transformations, do not let yourself be paralyzed by or halted by the logic of gravity.

Text by: Sissel Lillebostad, Academic Director Kabuso and curator.

Photos by Thor Brødreskift