WHITE WALLS TENDER WALLS. NORTH

LEARN MORE ABOUT AVA VALSTEN

After the death of his mother, author Roland Barthes writes about the grief he is going through. He pays attention to how the grief appears to him. This is more or less how I have worked. I have paid attention to my wonder at the men I have been drawn to, noticed and “entered into”. 

During a period in my youth, I worked in a male-dominated workplace where I saw a pattern among the men. One group talked about politics, one group flirted uninhibitedly, and one group called their wife 'the wifey'. Years later, I realized which group I was most comfortable in. 

Eventually, I became married and addicted. I couldn't tear myself away without the camera. 

With camera in hand, I looked at my surroundings and counted five men, one for each brother and two fathers. The idea was to meet them one by one in a church tower in Södra Unnaryd and record my thoughts and feelings. Describe them. 

White Walls Tender Walls.South, West, North, East.- are the walls from that room in the church tower and the female figure in Cor Ne Edito - Ta Inte Mitt Hjärta, could be read as “I” or any other woman who is thinking about what she wants to go into.

Ava Valsten 

October 2024