Interview with Britta Ortiz
Artist Statement
Life is a gift, and every human being should appreciate life, other human beings, nature and all the creatures that live on earth. Only by this can we ensure the survival of humans here on earth, as life on earth can easily go on even without human intervention. Humans must be careful not to be arrogant and believe that they can control everything here on earth.
Biography
Britta Ortiz was born in 1959 in Denmark. She has worked with art all her life, but has never taken an education in art. On the other hand, she has a degree in medicine and has also studied psychology and has a master's degree in health anthropology. Education that probably helps to shape the themes that she deals with in her art.
Britta Ortiz first began showing her art to the public in 2010. After that, things have gone well. She has participated in many exhibitions in both Denmark and in several different countries outside Denmark, including the USA, England, Italy, Austria and Germany. Her art is also represented in many art books and art magazines.
She is especially known for her graphic works, but also works with oil painting, ceramics, watercolor, picture weaving, etc., as she loves to explore different artistic techniques and their possibilities.
She has been a member of several different artist associations and has also been the initiator of the establishment of two different ones, namely Isefjordskunstnerne and biZart gallery, where she has been chairman of the association established in connection with the foundation of the artist associations. biZart gallery is still an active association, and she is still chairman of it.
Britta, your statement, "Death is a prerequisite for life," is both a biological truth and a philosophical axiom. How do you navigate the tension between scientific objectivity and existential inquiry when translating such profound concepts into visual art?
Both animals and humans consist of, among other things, proteins and minerals, which are important nutrients for all living things. Death is ultimate, but it is also life-giving, as the components of animals and humans are food for the living. We see this very clearly when a predator kills its prey and eats it, or when humans slaughter an animal and eat it. However, it also happens when animals and humans die a natural death. Immediately, decomposition processes begin, where flies, snails and other animals begin to eat the dead animal or human.
Death is a reality, but many people live as if they are immortal. For them, death is something distant, something they see in films and other media or something they read about, and therefore it comes as a shock to them when they suddenly come face to face with death.
Death has always been a reality in my life, as my father, in addition to being a carpenter, was also an undertaker. It has also been a reality in my life as a doctor, and I know how short the distance is between life and death. That is why I also celebrate life when I depict the cycle of life, when, for example, a bird of prey eats a dead deer or when the bird is eaten by flies and snails. We are all part of the same cycle.
Your work captures both the fragility and the resilience of life. How do you decide the balance between visual simplicity and the underlying complexity of the themes you explore, and how does this balance reflect your worldview?
I am happy when you say that work captures both the fragility and the resilience of life - that it actually succeeds in containing this ambiguity so that others can sense it.
My works partly reflect the things that occupy my thoughts, but at the same time I also constantly want to show both sides of life - both the beautiful, the ugly and the things we don't talk about that much.
I think a lot about a work both before I start it and throughout its preparation. Both in the construction of a work and during the editing, I constantly make decisions that have an impact on the appearance of the finished work. It is a bit the same process as when authors talk about not everything having to be described. There should always be something that should be left to the imagination. Too many details can blur the message. At the same time, too much simplicity can make the message disappear for others than myself.
Life is not black and white, and even when life looks black, a light appears in the darkness. People, for example, start helping each other if they see that someone is having a hard time, and we humans show that we are social and responsible beings. This is the case, for example, when people show up for a funeral, where, for example, the undertaker or priest has called for someone to come and say goodbye to the deceased. Here, people often show up for a funeral because they feel that we owe each other a dignified burial, even if they do not know the deceased. Another example is when people open their doors to people who have fled war and destruction.
As someone trained in health anthropology, how do cultural interpretations of life, death, and interconnectedness shape your work? Are there specific cultural narratives or rituals that you find particularly resonant in your artistic practice?
Although I have studied both health anthropology and psychology, I see myself as a doctor. However, the two studies have had an influence on my view of medical education, as the two studies have made me reflect on my basic education and my view of the world. The world has taken on more colors - a greater understanding of people and the world we live in, as well as the relationships between people.
Psychology is the study that has made me reflect the most. Probably because it was the study I studied first after my medical education. Psychology has certainly changed my view of life, death and objectivity, as well as the description of the world.
My three university studies mean that in both my regular work and in my work as an artist I have a larger palette from which I "can draw different elements". For me, this means greater insight, more reflection and a deeper understanding of contexts and human behavior, but also that the things we do have significance for others. When, for example, some people dream of eternal life, then it is an absurd thought, as it would mean that we would exist in a society without children and young people, as there are limits to how many
individuals there can be on earth. We all - both animals and humans - are part of a cycle, and yes, it is a theme that is dealt with in some of my works. Death is ultimate, but it is also a source from which new life can be created.
The interplay of life and death is a recurring theme in your work, often suggesting a larger cyclical narrative. How is the concept of time represented in your art—linear, cyclical, or something more intricate? How do the formal elements of your prints articulate this temporal perspective?
Yes, I describe life on earth as cyclical, as we are all preconditions for each other. We are born, live our lives and die. However, we do not go to waste when we die, as we all - both animals and plants - consist of components that are the precondition for life. However, life over a longer period is not simply cyclical in the sense that life runs in a circle. The cyclical movement moves linearly forward, as we "stand on top" of the knowledge produced by our ancestors. It is not only in humans that this happens, as we have been able to observe that at least certain animals also pass on knowledge from one generation to the next.
However, life is more complicated than we can see at first glance. We believe that we are more well- developed and smarter than previous generations, but when we look at what they created in Egypt several thousand years ago, one can well doubt it. It was a society that was extremely well-developed. When you look at history, it is also clear that there is a cyclical movement in the rise and fall of nations. Nations flourish and are dominant for a period of time before other nations flourish and take over a dominant position. For a long period, it has been the Western countries that have been dominant in many areas.
However, there are signs that this is changing, and this is creating tensions between different nations, and more and more people are talking about the risk of a third world war.
In my graphic prints I mostly depict the cyclical process that happens within a short time interval, as it depicts both life and death at the same time and is therefore positive, as death is a prerequisite for life. I believe that in a world full of conflicts we need to focus on something positive - at least I do.
You criticize intra-species violence as unnatural, yet it is a persistent part of human history. How does your art grapple with this paradox, and do you see your work as a form of resistance or reconciliation with humanity’s darker tendencies?
I do not criticize violence among animals because it usually has only one purpose, namely to ensure the survival of the species. This applies when, for example, two males fight to mate with the same females. Here, the fights between the males ensure that the strongest genes are passed on. Some species also chase other animals away if they enter their territory to ensure that there is enough food for the individual or a group.
Humans, on the other hand, fight for all sorts of reasons, and it is scary how a few people in this world can commit violence against thousands and sometimes millions of people for their own gain. How can any human believe that they have more right to live than the many thousands of people whose deaths they are responsible for. To find evidence of this, you only need to look at history, where, for example, Hitler, Stalin and Mao were responsible for the death and suffering of many millions.
It also plays out in the present, where, for example, Netanyahu thinks it's okay to kill thousands of women and children - partly to avenge the attack on the Jews in Israel on October 7, 2023, but also to avoid a trial that awaits him when he himself is no longer in power.
I do not think that violence is a natural thing, and I will fight violence at all times. For me, violence is an expression of weakness, like when children hit because their language is not well developed enough for them to express what they want. This applies to violence in relationships, between people in other situations, or in war. Violence does not solve problems, but creates many problems.
I never depict violence between people in my works, but I still want people to reflect on the world they live in. That's why I often use animals, including insects, when I want to depict something that I want people to reflect on.
I believe that if we all fight violence, we will have a better world. If we as humans witness violence without doing anything, then we are complicit.
Your use of recurring symbols like birds and trees suggests universal themes, yet symbols are also deeply cultural. How do you ensure that your imagery resonates universally while still acknowledging the specificities of your cultural and personal context?
When I create artworks, I always take as my starting point the world that surrounds me and things that I have experienced myself. A work can also arise as a reflection on something that I have come to think of or heard. In order to retain and support the memory, I take a lot of photographs. This also applies, for example, when I have to study an insect closely. I never use photos that I have found on the internet or in various magazines. My criterion when creating art is always that I take as my starting point something that I have experienced with my own senses. It is true that I often depict birds and trees. I think that they are fantastic creatures, and they become more and more interesting as science finds out more and more about them. It is fascinating that trees have their own lives, where we have only just learned that they actually communicate and, for example, warn each other of dangers. Birds have some abilities that we humans do not have, and at the same time, for example, crows have an intelligence measured by human standards that is on par with a 3-4 year old child.
When I depict the world, I often use animals and nature as symbols of the world and what I want to depict. It is not always something I am aware of from the start, but it is often incorporated into the works during their long development, where I always start by drawing sketches and composing the works. I do not think much about whether the messages are universal, but they often will be because I am depicting something that is universally valid. By using animals, insects and plants, the messages become more universal, as they are elements that are found all over the world, and people do not have to decide which cultural works originate from.
As a medical doctor and psychologist, you have firsthand experience with the fragility of human life. How do the ethical dilemmas and emotional gravity of those professions manifest in your artistic exploration of mortality and survival?
As a doctor, you experience people in their most vulnerable situations, and you are constantly confronted with the fragility of life. Life is not a given, because the distance between life and death is very short. That awareness affects you as a person, and it is not an option to live your life as if death is not an option, as some people do. As a doctor, you are confronted with the fact that serious and sometimes fatal illnesses do not only affect old people, but can also affect children and young people and younger adults. Accidents can
change people's lives from one moment to the next and sometimes lead to death. As a doctor, death is never abstract, but part of the life lived. That is why the love for life also becomes that much greater.
On the one hand, life is a gift, and there is nothing more wonderful than when children and animals are born. At the same time, death is a prerequisite for children to still be born, both human and animal. Both birth and death are landmark events in the lives of all beings, and between the two opposite poles exists the life lived. I think it is important to depict all aspects of life, including death, as birth and death are interconnected. I want to open people's eyes to this and make them reflect. We cannot live as if death is an abstract entity that only exists in films, computer games and something we read about. No, we will all encounter death at some point in our lives. Death is also incomprehensible in many ways, as it is so ultimate. Probably the most ultimate thing we can experience in this life. My works are both a tribute to life, but at the same time depict the awareness of the nearness of death and that life and death are interconnected.
Linocut printing inherently involves subtractive processes and limitations in detail. How do these constraints influence your creative decision-making, and do they parallel any of the philosophical limits or boundaries you explore in your work?
No matter what medium I work in, I don't try to depict anything photo-naturalistic, because in my opinion, a work of art shouldn't look like a photograph. A work of art is the artist's interpretation of what the artist wants to depict. Our brain also filters out a lot of things in both our observations and our memories. We focus on the things that are essential to understanding the whole. That's why I don't see the choices I constantly have to make when I make my linocuts as limitations, but as conscious choices that should support the things I want to say with the individual work of art. When I depict a bird, for example, I don't need to cut out every single feather, or when I depict a tree, I don't need to cut out every single little branch/twig. People can see that it's a bird or a tree.
I don't know if they fit into any of the philosophical boundaries or boundaries that I explore in my work? I think they fit more into my understanding of how we humans perceive the world because our brains work the way they do. At the same time, we always put our own interpretation into all our experiences, which means that other people also put their own interpretations into the works that I and other artists produce. This happens not only in art, but in all kinds of activities that we participate in, which is very clear, for example, when people have to give testimony. We all see everything from different perspectives, which the psychological direction of social constructionism clearly describes. For example, when we have to describe a table, our description of the table will depend on the angle from which we see the table. If we are standing on top of the table, we might describe it as a square surface, while if we see it from the side, we will describe it as a surface with x number of legs, etc. Language and what we carry in our "baggage" affect our interpretation of the works of art we see.
In what ways do you approach art-making as a form of research or experimentation? How does the iterative, experimental nature of science influence your artistic methodology, particularly in crafting linocut prints?
I work with two different ways in which my works come into being. On the one hand, they can arise from having experienced something that I would like to portray or from having thought about a subject - a theme that I would like to portray in a work. This will often be inspired by observations that I have made in relation to the world we live in, something that I have heard and relate to or similar. After that, I begin to figure out in my own head how I can express what I want to express. In that process, I use, for example, the knowledge that I have through my work and the educations that I have, but I also begin to look around for
elements that I can build into my work and in that way build up the work. In that process, I often take photographs to capture impressions and thoughts that I have had in the process.
When I think about it, my artistic process is in many ways not that different from the way I work when, in my regular work, I, for example, design and implement prevention projects. Here I also gather knowledge, so that I have a solid foundation to stand on before I decide how a prevention project should be designed and implemented. In this way, my usual work and my art are woven together, as I probably use the same methods in one way or another. It is through knowledge and reflection that the new elements arise, regardless of what I am working with.
Your art often examines paradoxes — life necessitating death, humanity’s conflict with its own kind, nature’s harmony and brutality. How do you personally reconcile these paradoxes, and what role does art play in helping you and your audience navigate them?
In life, there are some conditions that we cannot change, such as the fact that death is a reality that we cannot escape. In addition, there are also things that we ourselves have influence on, such as the way we treat other people and our relationships with each other. We need to accept the conditions that we cannot change instead of spending a lot of energy trying to change or deny them.
I believe that all people are unique and have some skills. As people, we need to focus on our own skills and develop them instead of becoming bitter about not having the same skills as our neighbor. For example, I have a son who was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, ADHD and ADD in his late 20s after he had been struggling for more than ten years. At first, he was horrified to receive the diagnoses. Instead of feeling sorry for him, I found examples of famous scientists who are believed to have had these diagnoses, and it didn't take many hours for him to turn his diagnoses from being a disadvantage to being an advantage, and this has resulted in him doing very well today, as he fully utilizes his special skills in his work, where he is a very valued employee.
We also cannot change the things that have happened, but we can change our view of them and try to learn to understand what has happened. This also applies to negative experiences, for example. This means that all experiences become something that we can learn from and thereby become wiser as people and at the same time more inclusive and tolerant.
At the same time, I am not blind to the fact that there are people who are brutal and indifferent to other people, such as Hitler, Stalin and Mao. Fortunately, they are exceptions, and the things they have done can never be forgiven, and it is also difficult to understand why they have acted as they did. However, it is exciting to learn to understand how they could seduce so many people and make them follow them and carry out the orders they gave. As single individuals, they would not have been able to do so much damage. What I appeal to is therefore that all people come to terms with themselves, where their ethical boundaries are, and then be true to themselves.
I try to express my reflections through my art. The reflections occur both in relation to the planning of the individual works of art, but also through the numerous hours it takes to produce each work of art. The reflections are expressed both through the work itself, but also through the title the work ends up being given.
With my art, I want people to reflect and open their eyes to the world we live in, and they are welcome to wonder about the motifs in my art, because that means they have begun to reflect.
