Malene Bjelke works with the human’s life and state of mind expressed through the body. She seeks in the interaction between the figure and the surroundings to cover the human’s inner landscape where we recognizes ourselves. Malene is educated from the School of design in Denmark and has through the last 20 years besides her work with sculptures been working with scenography and costumes within theater. Malene founded and worked as artistic head of the theatre “Our Theater” from 2003 to 2008 with the aim to create performances based on the room. Since 2008 Malene Bjelke has had her workshop at Kronborg in one of the old barrack buildings.
“With her simple, uncomplicated human figures Malene Bjelke captures the thoughtfulness of the everyday. Her sculptures is like little thoughtful pauses which gives the viewer a peaceful mind and a wish to revisit or to own the work/works. Malene Bjelke makes archetypes on the human in every age both young and old. With materials like wax, plaster and bronze the artist shows how different the choice of material is expressed figuratively. And if you see the same figure in the three materials beside each other it is an eyeopener. Malene Bjelke of course also uses wax and plaster as “sketches” for casting her final bronze figures. It is sculptures in an abstract, natural simplicity where you don’t miss distinctive facial expressions given that the sculptures bodies sufficiently signals a state of mind.The figures isn’t smooth polished but has a living surface as Malene Bjelke has had a finger in every part of the surface. It is the human figure that interests Malene Bjelke which she expresses with a profound sympathetic insight in her small sophisticated works of art.”
Art historian Bente Hammershøy
