Baldvin Ringsted

Baldvin Ringsted is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Glasgow, Scotland. Alongside his visual works, Baldvin writes and performs music. His work focuses on points of intersection between image and sound. Baldvin’s mirrors for example, form a certain “rhythm” as they directly translate to sheet music. Using a range of media to export the parallels between visual art, performance art, music, and sound.

“My practice crosses a range of media, I often transform sound and music into visual and physical forms both literally and idealistically through collage, sculpture, painting, installations, and video. This process is also reversed i.e. ideas and objects become the source for audio work.” My paintings are altered or reworked existing pieces of very common unsigned decorative artwork. These types of paintings became popular in the early 70s and made hugely popular by artists and teachers such as Bob Ross. Now commonly found in second-hand charity shops. 

Sometimes I paint onto a bought piece of painting and sometimes I paint from a photo or paint in the style of the found piece. I then deconstruct the canvas by cutting it up and resembling it onto a board to form some sort of a rhythm. My background is in music and throughout my visual art practice, I have always been fascinated by how music is both a visual and mathematical phenomena. The cut up canvas is mounted on a carved outboard. This both adds a three-dimensional plane to the artwork and also serves as “counterpoint” of sorts in this rhythmic construction. I like to bring together the warm, innocent and nostalgic feel of these “thrift store” painting against the calculated modern approach in constructing the final piece.

In previous works exploring the human/performative element within the composition, Ringsted has worked with transposing the voice into music and visual representation. In Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech for solo cello, he translated the landmark speech for the cello, the piece was performed live in New York, Berlin, Glasgow, and Akureyri. In each performance, the audience responded in a manner distinct to their own culture and shared histories; with an understandably strong reception in the U.S.