INSOMNIA
The exhibition Insomnia is a group exhibition of 7 artists who examine their individual entrance to
Insomnia.
The group consists of Christina Bergh, Helena Burman, Christina Hedlund, Monika Masser, Lena
Kolenka Rammi, Ekatarina Sisfontes, Katarina Warrenstein.
We have placed great emphasis on sitting together and talking about the topic of insomnia.
Jointly planning the design of the exhibition where everyone finds
their individual and peculiar place has been important in the process.
This group of artists all has different temperaments and artistic expressions and what unites
us in not being able to fall asleep is the phenomenon of insomnia.
Insomnia is a topic that has been researched and inspired by the arts throughout the ages. What
happens in a person’s consciousness when involuntary insomnia affects you? Staring up at the
ceiling, twisting and turning in the sheets. Frustration occurs when the eyes do not want to
close and the body does not find sleep and rest. The brooding where thoughts go around in my head
uncontrollably.
There is even a mystique in the word and subject of Insomnia. How do sleep, brain, and consciousness
work? The risk of falling into psychological problems is increased by insomnia. Forcing a person to be
awake around the clock is an effective method of torture, something happens to our psyche.
Everyone who experienced insomnia knows that it is a huge problem. The reasons are many, stress,
personal crises, aches, and illnesses.
The body is biologically prepared to sleep during the night, when, among other things, the sleep
hormone melatonin is released. Researcher Alexander Borbely coined the term two-process model in
the early 1980s, which he used as an explanatory model for insomnia. The model is based on the fact
that the body’s built-in circadian rhythm in combination with the body’s sleep-wakefulness
homeostasis facilitates makes it difficult for us to sleep. The opposite of insomnia is narcolepsy when
you fall asleep uncontrollably. Sleep disorders also include conditions such as nightmares, night
terrors and sleepwalking.
In the group, we have investigated Insomnia from different perspectives and talked about our own
experiences and experiences. We have described Insomnia as places where we end up due to various
reasons. In the conversation, feelings of discomfort have been described, but also a place of mind as
a door to a flowing creativity that can feel euphoric. We’ve found descriptions like banging your
head and feeling head restraints. Thoughts that change location size and shape. Feelings of falling into
loops and that the body does not respond but the brain is highly active.
The conversation also revolved around the world as we fell into collective insomnia during the
Covid pandemic. We talked about nature, civilization, climate, and climate crisis. In the conversation,
we sought out places that eventually put us to sleep.
Hopefulness is a soft moss that sweeps the body into a calm and meditative state in which the brain
finally finds peace. The comfort in the fact that nature remains even though man may disappear.
We, a group of artists, and what unites us is INSOMNIA.