Sketch for the Structure of Peace #2

Jytte Høy mainly produces installations and sculptures, employing ordinary materials or everyday objects in order to create expressive structures and forms in connection with geometric shapes. The notions of drawing and line occupy a special place in her practice, including in her three-dimensional pieces. Høy generally works in the form of series, which develop strong ties to one another – one series may in fact serve as a source of inspiration or material for another. Emphasising tactility and humorous formal gestures, Høy’s works take a stance against artistic movements which encourage abstract geometric forms by erasing the traces of the artist’s hand and the materiality of the object.

Jytte Høy’s "Sketch for the Structure of Peace" is a series consisting of two-dimensional pieces and sculptural works, which juxtaposes various objects and found materials. Keen on exploring situations that actualise the encounter between “sense” and “nonsense”, the artist proceeded by following a precise scenario, which serves as the point of departure for the work. "Sketch for the Structure of Peace #2" is inspired by a piece of blotting paper with a pencil drawing which is exhibited in the Imperial Museum of War in London. The drawing that triggered Høy’s interest was done by Lloyd George, the British representative at the Peace Conference which took place at Versailles (France) in 1919, immediately after the First World War. Translating a two-dimensional drawing into a three-dimensional sculpture, the work sheds light on the transformation of form and meaning that occurs during the translation process. Questioning what the structure of peace might be, the work materializes at the same time the space between the place one translates from and the place one translates to. Høy, who stretches the fact that, being a sculptor, she works with space, is particularly interested in spaces in-between, where “sense” and “nonsense” bump into each other – spaces that contain various possibilities and offer many possible directions. Merging natural forms (tree branches) with artificial means (bronze), "Sketch for the Structure of Peace #2" seeks ways to simplify and streamline complex relationships, and methods to alter the meanings and functions of objects.