Clash

Description

Is this a tussle for fun, or combat in earnest – these two hulking granite beasts going for each other’s throats? Clash exemplifies the sort of violent, pent-up energy and movement that Ørntoft somehow manages to encapsulate in his sculptures. These figures almost seem on the verge of breaking free of the rock itself, their brute strength tamed to breaking point.

The artist finds inspiration in the Icelandic sagas and Nordic mythology, and in his work one can also identify elements seen in medieval Nordic stone carvings. A typical feature of Ørntoft’s large-scale works is that they are endowed with an inner equilibrium, harmonious and resting in themselves, not in spite of their powerful expression, but rather by virtue of it.