GLOBAL COLLECTORS ART PRIZE | MASTERS DEFINING THE FUTURE OF ART

Biography

Self-Presentation. CV. New Book. 2026.

I was born to musical parents who attended a high-quality chorus. Song rehearsals related to new concerts filled our private rooms. I also followed my performing parents to secular and religious concerts in Rogaland County. When my parents' chorus was the engaged chorus in theatre operettas in Stavanger, I had a seat together with my aunt.

The walls in our private lounge were covered with paintings made by two of my uncles. Both of them were very good painters.

Bookshelves filled with novels also demanded space. Short stories and portraits of people who had achieved great personal goals in different arenas of life were also represented.

From an early age, my father gave me crayons, paint, and paper to use as tools for imagining and creating. These activities were eagerly continued through the years.

After high school, one of my dreams was to become a teacher. Consequently, I attended Teachers’ College in Kristiansand for two years and specialized in Arts and Crafts.

Then, for some years, I taught various subjects in Primary and Secondary School. Thereafter, I attended courses in media at Bergen University, Stavanger Department.

In this arena, teaching in iconography and topics related to economy and culture deepened my interest in art and the performing arts. The connection between power, economy, and the right of the artist to show his or her works in public spaces as a comment on political matters and the human condition also became important. The beauty of the created became evident and significant.

In 1992, I was invited to be a student and to have an atelier place at the Free Artists Academy in Stavanger. One of my curators there was the famous Neo-Impressionist Kjell Pahr Iversen. I stayed there for seven years.

Creating stories or interpreting realities on canvas became a challenging and interesting project.

The duty to protest against violations of human rights, genocide, and indifference towards human suffering was, and is, also relevant. Furthermore, demonstrating against greed and new fascistic movements was, and is, a necessary tool in the fight for a decent life for everyone.

Over the years, I have won many prizes related to my activity as a painter. Among them is Art Tour International Magazine’s “60 Best Artists of the Year.” I am very grateful and happy to have received all these prizes.

I should also mention that I mostly paint in an expressive and impressionistic way. My favourite artist is Nicolai Astrup from Jølster in Sognefjorden. He lived between 1880 and 1926. Like me, he was an expressive but also nativistic painter. We both love to interpret the beauty of the created.

Vigdis Elisabeth Feldt
October 2026

Artist Statement

My Projects. New Book. 2026. VEF.

My projects are about seeing, realizing, and communicating.

Many societies are well-functioning democratic units. They have sustainable economic policies, high-quality institutions for learning and research, a free press, and health institutions.

In addition, they encourage various types of cultural exchange and performance. People can act, entertain, and express their meanings, hopes, and dreams on different stages. They are not controlled.

My arenas are painting and drawing pictures, expressing the love of nature and the interest in interactions among humans, but also showing violations against individuals and groups.

I can enjoy my profession, but I can also bring my knowledge to art students and teach them to express their hopes, emotions, and visions. Art can also be therapeutic.

Creating art can establish a good dialogue, making people think, meditate, and reflect.

Violent societies often lack a tradition of democratic leadership involving good communication. Subjugation is the rule. Therefore, a change in ways of thinking can take many years. First, one has to get rid of incompetent and corrupt leadership. Then, a new democratic organizational model has to teach and motivate people to trust their own learning abilities and contribute to creating a new era of enlightenment. These processes take time.

How do we do this? First of all, we have to develop a sustainable and healthy economy in a country.

We must create productivity that provides income and well-being. A green policy must be dominant.

Providing clean water comes first, then nourishing food and a good housing policy with healthy private homes. Then we must provide production arenas that do not threaten the environment with extinction.

Joyous games and activities have to take place while society is developing: sports, drawing and painting, dancing, drama, and choral activities. In other words, arts and cultural activities. In other words, living and learning through communication.

These methods are being practised in many countries and have proved to be effective.

V. E. Feldt
October 2026

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