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Vice Blog

SCANDINAVIA - A PEEK AT NADINE BYRNE


Swedish artist Nadine Byrne constantly dreams about drowning. That's probably why she's so into religious mysticism and anything dark and scary. It's a good balance, because if her creations were as sweet as her adorable face we'd probably get caries. She's only 23 years old and has already studied at fancy art schools and seems to have it all at her fingertips. We're talking illustrations, video art, sculpture, fanzines, fashion, and music that she describes as utterly mind-destroying, dark synth experiments. Her bands are called The Magic State and Ectoplasm Girls and they're signed to one of those hip electronica labels that annoying people like to name drop at parties. She wouldn't spill the beans on the whereabouts of her magic well of eternal energy but she did tell us the stories behind her top three favourite pieces.

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Crazy Kids

I made this drawing/collage three years ago. The kids are based on a photograph I took of my little brother and sister being naked and crazy. Then I added the demon head masks, also something I regularly use in my drawings. They stand for evil and I think they're scary as shit.

The Shaman Suit

I'm fascinated with mythology and shamanism, in particular how what a shaman wears is loaded with symbols of his or her belief and how these symbols can be unknown to the viewer but still provide them with an understanding of the wearer's history. Also, the clothing in itself is an aid to reach beyond this world and level of consciousness. I wanted to apply this on myself. So I made a shaman suit of my own, decorated with symbols of my history and my own mythology dealing with phenomenon in my life that would be difficult to explain without magnifying them.

Still from Procession, from The Magic State Series.

I have a music project called The Magic State and in addition to the music I produce films, so every concert is also a screening. I think of them as visual renderings of the same ideas that make up the songs. Anyway, I made these costumes for me and my friends and we wore them for walking a procession in a park not far away from where I live. It was really funny to watch astonished dog owners wondering what the fuck just hit them. It was a nice day too, like a field trip and I had brought some hot chocolate.