Acclaimed Danish artist Susanne Thea’s prints inspired by sagas and early manuscripts detailing the famous Viking Battle of Clontarf in Ireland in AD 1014 are on display at the House of Manannan, in Peel.
‘They Came From The Deep Blue Sea’ features 14 artworks depicting the conspiracy between the former queen Gormlaith, King Brodir from the Isle of Man, Earl Sigurd from the Orkney Islands and the Viking Chief of Dublin Sitric Silkbeard, towards the High King of Ireland Brian Boru.
Susanne Thea, who lives by the old Viking area Great Belt, is well-known for her 72-metre print ‘Paraphrase of the Bayeux Tapestry’ and her uniquely personal figurative language has attracted interest from museums around the world.
She uses 400-year-old graphic and printing techniques, and describes her style as ‘symbolic, figurative and dramatic story-telling – hopefully, with a sense of humour’.
She was asked to create a pictorial piece of the Battle of Clontarf for the battle’s millennium, after ‘Paraphrase of the Bayeux Tapestry’ was shown at Dublin’s National Printing Museum in 2007.
‘Being a Dane, I consider myself an ancestor of the Vikings and was told the Vikings were thrown out of Ireland at the battle in 1014 by High King Brian Boru,’ she said.
‘I struggled for years finding motivation and inspiration. I did feel obliged to get on with the work though.
‘I decided to do four small copper etchings, and started the research and working on the first copper plate on April 23, 2013, only to find out it was the date for the battle 999 years ago.
‘And the only one surviving the battle, of all the leaders and kings involved, was Viking Chief Sietrick Silkbeard of Dublin. Believing in faith I knew I had to get into the artwork.’
She researched the Vikings in Ireland, ship building, houses, armour, invasion, settlement and the ambitious High King Brian Boru, Burnt Njal from the Icelandic Saga, King Brodir from the Isle of Man and Sigurd from the Orkney Islands.
‘I got very inspired and filled with motivation,’ she said. ‘I experimented with printing on plexiglas, using techniques such as dry-point, carborundum, monotype and a la poupèe.’
By that summer she had made her storyboard and had decided to go for 11 images on 55cm by 150cm plexiplates and ‘Battle of Clontarf 1014’ went on show in Ireland and at the Viking Museum in Trelleborg, Denmark.
She has since added three more plates, and this exhibition is the first time they have all been on display.
Susanne said it’s important that even her small prints tell a story: ‘I was brought up by story-telling and whenever I sense a good and interesting story, my mind wanders off building images.
‘I find out lives and dreams are built and made by stories and so must my artwork be.
‘I wish to reach out to viewers of my artwork and hope they are inspired by my images.’
The exhibition continues until April 10.