Hanne Lydia Opøien Figenschou - Happiness is Easy

This exhibition presents the new series of drawings by Hanne Lydia Opøien Figenschou, created between 2024 and 2026. These works, which have been meticulously created using colored pencils on black paper, unfold as fragmented visual narratives, shaped by overwhelming impressions and subtle contemplative details. Developed under the title 'Happiness is Easy', the drawings explore the duality of happiness in relation to contemporary global realities, reflecting the tension between external events and internal states. Throughout the series, everyday objects and scenes are imbued with multiple layers of meaning, exposing the tensions between the personal and the collective. The drawings resist linear coherence, mirroring instead the scattered and often contradictory nature of thought and experience. In many works, text and image intertwine, with words embedded directly into the drawings to create tensions between language and motif. Themes range from personal identity and self-representation to broader social and political concerns, including violence, mental health, gendered realities and shifting democratic rights. The exhibition invites viewers to engage with the implicit ideologies embedded within the images, questioning how notions of happiness are constructed, mediated, and experienced.