How Nordic are we 1000 years after the Vikings?

The installation artist Jill Johnson of Minnesota wants to understand how people's thinking, beliefs and acting have shaped their world. 

  • Installation artist Jill Johnson, checks on a face mold in preparation to do a beeswax casting of it for the “Ordinary Vikings Outdoor Art Installation” October 8, 9, 15 and 16 at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve south of Isanti, MN. Icelandic Viking storyteller Ingibjorg Gisladottir will also participate in the installation. Besides telling stories at the weekend events, she will appear at school and community programs in the region. Photo by V. S. Arrowsmith

  • By Valorie Arrowsmith

  • Working with natural materials, installation artist Jill Johnson pours beeswax into a mold cast for her upcoming exhibit at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve south of Isanti. The face becomes part of a sculpture, with the body created out of found objects in nature, such as branches, leaves, twigs. Her focus is to begin with Nordic mythology, featuring Thor, the three Norns, Loki and Freyja. Photo by V. S. Arrowsmith

  • East Bethel, Minnesota—Jill Johnson, director of the Nordic Arts Alliance in the Fargo/Moorhead area, is an installation artist, active in this genre of visual arts for more than 15 years. In 2011 she won a Folk and Tradition grant through the Minnesota State Arts Board to expand a Nordic mythology installation that she began earlier in her career.
    The grant-funded work will be installed at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve in East Bethel, MN on October 8, 9, 15 and 16. It is based on the big star sculptures in Denmark and will include life stories that portray culture. Adding narrative to the installation is Icelandic storyteller Ingibjorg Gisladottir, who will perform among the big oak savannas. Gisladottir will also give school and community performances in the region.

  • Choosing to have one straw through the mouth instead of two through the nose, Elise Peters, executive director of the Swedish Council of America, serves as a model for artist Jill Johnson as she casts her face for the upcoming installation focused on “Ordinary Vikings.” The show is outdoors at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve, south of Isanti October 8, 9, 15 and 16, and also features Icelandic storyteller Ingibjorg Gisladottir. Photo by V. S. Arrowsmith

  • Johnson’s questions in this project are:
    (1) Are we still Scandinavian 150 years after the boats sailed?
    (2) Are any memories triggered when guests see the pieces in nature?
    (3) How are we influenced in the present by the immigrant family?
    (4) Cultural stories continue to have an impact because they’ve been told so long. Where does that story have an impact in the present?
    (5) What gets transmitted culturally?
    (6) There is cultural myth and cultural story; how does that inform us today?

  • Elise Peters gets some attention from artist Jill Johnson who applies a substance to create a mold of Peters’ face. Johnson is creating an art installation that asks the question, “How Nordic are we 1000 years after the Vikings?” Photo by V. S. Arrowsmith

  • For Johnson it’s not about answering the questions as much as it’s about asking them. She wants to understand what people were—and are—thinking, believing and acting, and how that shaped the world. She is seeking ways of interpreting the world's cultural archetypes, however she is not focused on reclaiming Nordic religious practices. After her work is done, the installation then belongs to the bigger community. She says, “What you see is what you see when you’re ready to see it.”
    To prepare for this Johnson has done beeswax portrait casts of Nordic-Americans. She has focused her supplies on what materials would have been available to the Nordic world in a pre-Viking era: wood, linen, beeswax.
    For more information, contact Jill via email at Jill Johnson
    For more info on the exhibition - Ordinary Vikings Outdoor Art Installation and, the ecological research site - Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve

  • Once the mold forming material is applied, it takes 20 minutes for the mold to dry. Elise Peters served as one of the models for the three Norns from Nordic mythology. Other models for the Norns were former directors of the Isanti County Historical Society Valorie Arrowsmith and Marilyn McGriff. Photo by V. S. Arrowsmith

  • Photography by V. S. Arrowsmith