About

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All my life I have wanted to know more. As researcher and artist I try to explore, ask questions and find connections

Marte Sørebø Gulliksen, Ph.D., is professor of culture education and aesthetic practice at University of South-Eastern Norway, Norway. She is a researcher studying learning and teaching in arts and crafts, and an artist who works primarily in wood. Coming from a background of teacher education, music and craft, her interdisciplinary research interest has led her to implementing neuroscientific knowledge in her studies of learning and making, and exploring the epistemological and methodological challenges this entail. She has been a visiting scholar at Western University, Canada, where she did research collaboration as a member of the Human Ingenuity Research Group, and a guest professor at University of Iceland. She has led several scientific committees, international consortia and engaged in Nordic research networks including NordFo and EmLearning. She is the founding member of the research group Embodied Making and Learning, an
interdisciplinary initiative with more than 45 members. She was the leader of this group from the start in 2014 to the end of 2020.

Artist Statement

It is the development of forms and shapes – the combination of clean lines and good curves, of chaos and the unfinished, the finished and beautiful – that is the driving force of what I do as an artist. I work in living materials, aspen wood, that – because I cut it down – is changed to be dead wood, but is given a new life as sculptures. The ethically problematic of such actions are discussed in today’s society. Throughout history, conquering of materials was unproblematic, a right of man, a necessity. Today, I gather my materials carefully in the woods. I choose trees that should be taken out to the best of the forest, or trees that an eager beaver has chewed too deep for the tree to survive. Then I cut and carve in close and tactile negotiation with the material. I develop my understanding of each unique piece of wood – its growth and history, and explore how this can be a part of the negotiation and develop interesting forms.

All photos: CC BY-NC-ND