Marit Victoria Wulff Andreassen

The Artist
Marit Victoria Wulff Andreassen (b. 1971) is a visual artist working with drawing on paper, painting, and monumental works on walls. Recurring themes in her works include body, gender, identity, and nature. Andreassen has participated in numerous museum exhibitions and her works have been acquired by several public and private art collections.

About the Art
For Marit Victoria, it has been important to create a room that in form and colour highlights Peiter Billedhugger's beautiful baroque carvings. At the same time, she has tried to give space to the story of Trau-Astri—the poor woman who was executed for witchcraft in 1662. The tension between Peiter and Astri is interesting, as Peiter Billedhugger's wife was involved in denouncing other women, leading to their convictions.

Notice the braid of hair on the wall, seemingly cut straight off. This alludes to the beheading of Astri. In Marit Victoria's contribution to the exhibition, she has focused on hair as a cultural and social symbol. In the 1600s, working-class girls and unmarried women could wear their hair loose, while married and older women had to cover their hair with a scarf. Women's hair was, then as now, a sign of social status and cultural belonging. Beautiful hair was a sign of fertility and power, while it was also described as one of women's many sinful lures in both folk culture and religious contexts.

Marit Victoria's contribution is also a work about femininity in general. The rules for how a woman should behave in the 17th century were numerous, and as a woman, she was under guardianship. This meant that she was owned by her husband, father, or brother. She was part of the man's property, which could be exchanged for other goods if necessary.