Jóhan Martin Christiansen

February 11, 2022

Jóhan Martin Christiansen is primarily a sculptor and installation artist who splits his time between the Faroe Islands and Copenhagen, Denmark. 

He draws inspiration from both natural and built environments. His work also engages with queer theory to explore the varieties and depths of sexual identity. 

Flip Flop appears as what the artist calls a “broken sculpture.” Although the sculpture is static, its title suggests a performance—the collision of heavy and fragile materials folds, flips, and flops onto itself, like bodily movements. The use of plaster recalls classical sculpture and situates this abstract work in a lineage of figurative masterpieces. However, Christiansen’s sculpture presents the queer body in space, inserting marginalized peoples into a heteronormative canon. In its materiality, the work also references man-made urban environments as well as uncontrollable and fleeting natural factors, such as time, fog, and decay, found on Faroe Islands. 


Explore more artworks from North Atlantic Triennial

Related

  • Etching in Motion: A Cross-Disciplinary Look at Exhibition Planning 

    April 21, 2026

    In preparation for Winslow Homer: Painter, Etcher—opening in summer 2026—the PMA developed an exhibition-specific internship...
  • USA Today: Portland, Maine offers coastal charm and culinary delights

    April 7, 2026

    Discover Portland, Maine's charm from morning to night with coastal views, a vibrant culinary scene,...