Maja Nilsen
(She/her)
Address: Eterveien 12, Eterveien 12, 0690 Oslo
Floor: 1
The studio is open Sunday 19 April from 12-17
Maja Nilsen is a multidisciplinary artist working across a wide range of techniques, from large-scale public commissions and scenography with costumes to intimate studio-based works such as collage, paper cut-outs, and sculpture. Central to her practice is the fragment—the incomplete, layered, and composite surface. Using collage, cut-outs, mosaics, she assembles disparate pieces into new, unexpected constellations and worlds, exploring transformation as fragments meet and merge. Thematically, Nilsen investigates how humans have sought to understand existence through science, mythology, religion, and folklore, examining how collective visual languages and symbols continue to shape our perception and cultural imagination today.
Collage, sculpture, painting
AFTER UTRØST (2025)
MAJA NILSEN
Glava wet-room panels, glass mosaic, tile adhesive, and grout. 37 × 51 cm
CONCEPTIONS (2025)
MAJA NILSEN
Cut-outs painted with gouache, mounted on matte, black-painted honeycomb panels. 1.45 × 1.98 m.
A series of seven works designed to create a room within a room, installed in a darkened space with theatrical lighting.
MATER (2025)
MAJA NILSEN
Styrofoam, expanding foam, aluminum shapes, cement, glue, grout, mesh fabric, plaster, and pigments.
90 cm high, 60 cm wide, and 1.2 meters deep.
DREAMS OF UTRØST (2025)
MAJA NILSEN
Short film (28 min)
Role: Script, director | Composer: Therese Aune | Editing: Astrid Skumsrud Johansen | Actor/voice: Håkon Vassvik | Text assistance: Lisa Lie.
Dreams of Utrøst is a film built on an original monologue and underwater footage shot in small ponds on Skomvær. The work takes the audience into the primordial sea, to the creation of the mountains, and into the dreams of deceased fishermen.
In my studio
In my studio, the audience can encounter a rich collection of collages and cut-outs, mosaics, sculptures, and sketches that point toward a new artistic commission.
My studio is located in the world’s oldest ether factory, situated between Bøler and Bogerud. A visit here can easily be combined with a walk around Østensjøvannet—one of Norway’s most biologically diverse lakes, renowned for its rich aquatic and marsh vegetation and the abundant bird and wildlife it supports. The area also offers a visit to Bøler Church, nominated for the Oslo Architecture Prize, celebrated for its contemporary architecture and thoughtful use of light and materials.
Planned projects and exhibitions
I am working on an exhibition that explores the myth of Utrøst.
The exhibition invites visitors into a distinct scenic, sacred, and mythical world – a dive into our collective dreams, the deep narratives of the sea, and the lost mythical island. The work includes, among other elements, a video, sculptures, and an extensive series of cut-outs.
In parallel, I am working on a public art commission in Leikanger, by the Sognefjord, where I am creating an organic and vividly colored wall installation.
CV
EDUCATION
2007 — Cinema Operator Exam and License
2003–05 — Master of Fine Art, Trondheim Academy of Fine Art
2000–03 — Bachelor of Fine Art, Trondheim Academy of Fine Art
2002 — NCAD, Dublin, MA – Virtual Realities, exchange program
1998–2000 — Bergen Academy of Art (KIB)
1997–98 — Fana Folkehøgskule, Art Program, Bergen
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2021 — Norwegian Sculptors Association, Oslo
2016 — The Floating Mountain, Trondheim Art Museum
2014 — Close your eyes to what you can’t imagine, site-specific project at TSSK, Trondheim
2012 — Grenseløs, Umåtelig, Overdreven, Nordnorsk Kunstnersenter (collaboration with Edvine Larssen), Svolvær
2011 — Taare af mine tørre Øine og Psalmer at min tilukte Mund, Rogaland Art Center, Stavanger
2011 — Agalma, Galleri Noplace, Oslo
2010 — Unfluid were the Waves, Trøndelag Center for Contemporary Art, Trondheim
2009 — Zoo, or Letters not about Love, Ossastrasse 13, Berlin
2008 — Darkness Moves, Tegnerforbundet, Oslo
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 — Tidevatnet lagar bølgjer i fjell og lukta av furu kan skapa regn, Tegnerforbundet, Oslo
2019 — Festningen, project at Kongsvinger Fortress, curated by Helga-Marie Nordby
2018 — I Hear You, Nord-Trøndelag Art Museum
2013 — Sculpture Biennale 2013, Vigeland Museum, Oslo
2012 — Cæur de Silex, Galerie, Contemporary Art Centre in Noisy-le-Sec, Paris
2012 — Storytelling, Bristol Biennial 2012, Bristol, England
2011 — NEUkölln norWEGEN, Galerie im Körnerpark, Berlin
2011 — Project0, The Nordic House, Reykjavik, Iceland
2010 — 64th Northern Norwegian Art Exhibition
2010 — Høstutstillingen, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo
2010 — Trønderlagsutstillingen , Trondheim
2009 — Høstutstillingen, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo
2009 — Torget, Gråmølna, Trondheim Art Museum
2009 — Polart 09, Tromsø Art Association
2008 — Norske Bilder 2008, Oslo City Hall
2008 — Spring Exhibition 2008, Tegnerforbundet, Oslo
2008 — Trønderlagsutstillingen , Trondheim
2008 — 62nd Northern Norwegian Art Exhibition
2008 — Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2007 — Norske Bilder 2007, Oslo City Hall
2006 — Norske Bilder 2006, Oslo City Hall
2005 — All You See Is Mine, Sculpture Park, Kramfors, Sweden
2005 — TAKE OFF 2005, Galleri Brandstrup, Oslo
2004 — Høstutstillingen, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo
2003 — Trønderlagsutstillingen , Trondheim
THEATER / PERFORMANCE / FILM
2028 — Set and Costume Design for the opera SATAN
2025 — Set and Costume Design for Fønix, Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Oslo
2024 — Production designer for the film Butterfly by Itonje Søimer Guttormsen
2022 — Set and Costume Design for BOWER, collaboration with composer Kristine Tjøgersen, choreographer Julie Desprairies and the ensemble Soundinitiative, Borealis Festival, Only Connect, CDA Enghien-les-Bains, Paris
2022 — Set and Costume Design for UTISETA, in collaboration with director Lisa Lie, The Norwegian Theatre
2019 — Set and Costume Design for Melancholia by Jon Fosse, collaboration with YMIST
2019 — Set and Costume Design for VAKE, collaboration with director Lisa Lie
2019 — Set and Costume Design for MARE, collaboration with director Lisa Lie, The Norwegian Theatre
2018 — Set and Costume Design for Draumkvedet, collaboration with director Erlend Samnøen and YMIST
2017 — Set and Costume Design for Uår by Terje Vigen, collaboration with director Lisa Lie, Trøndelag Theater
2016 — Set and Costume Design for Kaspar Hauser – Die Ausgestossene können jeden augenblick angreifen!, collaboration with director Lisa Lie, Schauspielhaus Wien
2016 — Set and Costume Design for Dracula, collaboration with director Erlend Samnøen, Brageteateret
2015 — Set and Costume Design for I Cloni, collaboration with director Lisa Lie, Black Box premiere
2014 — Set and Costume Design for dance performance Das Rotkäppchen, collaboration with choreographer Henriette Pedersen
2013 — Set and Costume Design for Blue Motell, one-year collaboration with director Lisa Lie
PUBLIC ART / COMPETITIONS
2021 — Public Art at Holen School, two outdoor works, Bergen Municipality
2020 — Competition for public art at Elverum Upper Secondary School
2020 — Public Art at Hadsel Upper Secondary School, Stokmarknes
2015 — Public Art at Eiganes Primary School, Stavanger, KORO project
2014 — Public Art competition, Aust-Lofoten Upper Secondary School
2012 — Public Art at Hokksund Youth School, KORO project
2011 — Public Art at Charlottenlund Upper Secondary School, Trondheim Municipality
2011 — Public Art at Steinkjer Upper Secondary School, KORO project
2011 — Public Art competition, Utdanningsforbundet
2011 — Public Art competition, Festningen Kindergarten
2008 — Art competition, Falstad Center
2008 — Public Art at Rye Kindergarten, Trondheim Municipality
GRANTS / AWARDS
2024 — 1-Year Working Grant, BKV
2023 — Project support from Arts Council Norway
2023 — Support from the Fund for Sound and Image
2023 — 1-Year Working Grant, BKV
2022 — 1-Year Working Grant, BKV
2021 — Preliminary Project for Performing Arts, Arts Council Norway
2020 — 1-Year Working Grant, BKV
2017 — 3-Year Working Grant, BKV
2016 — 1-Year State Working Grant
2015 — State Exhibition Grant
2015 — Hedda Award for the play Blue Motell
2015 — 1-Year Working Grant, BKV
2011 — 1-Year Working Grant, BKV
2011 — State Exhibition Grant, Rogaland Art Center
2010 — 1-Year Working Grant, BKV
2009 — Exhibition support, Arts Council Norway
2008 — Trondheim Municipality Cultural Grant
2008 — 2-Year State Working Grant for Young Artists
2007 — Lars Brandstrup Memorial Grant
2007 — Christian Lorch Schive and Spouse’s Legacy
2006 — 1-Year Grant, BKV
2005 — Christian Lorch Schive and Spouse’s Legacy
2004 — Lise and Arnfinn Heje Fund
2003 — BKH Student Grant
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
2023 — Acquired by Gimse School
2018 — Acquired by KLP Eiendom
2016 — Acquired by Trondheim Municipality
2016 — Acquired by Oslo Municipal Art Collection
2013 — Acquired by Nordland County
2011 — Acquired by KORO for Kvæfjord Youth Center
2010 — Acquired by Det Norske Oljeselskap