Painting from the Head or the Heart: Ornament, Identity, and Expression with Mona Stenseth

What does it mean to truly carry a tradition forward? In this lecture, Norwegian artist and psychotherapist Mona Stenseth explores the difference between reproducing tradition and expressing through it. Working at the intersection of identity and ornament, Mona approaches rosemaling not as decoration, but as a living language—shaped through rhythm, repetition, and human experience. Drawing from both her artistic practice and her background in expressive therapy, she reflects on how tradition is learned, internalized, and transformed across generations. What happens when we paint from the head—following rules, techniques, and established forms? And what becomes possible when we shift into the body and allow intuition, presence, and personal expression to guide the work? Rather than asking how tradition can be preserved unchanged, this talk asks a more urgent question: how does tradition continue through people? Bringing a contemporary perspective from Norway, Mona invites audiences into a deeper reflection on belonging, authorship, and what it means to make tradition your own. Mona Stenseth is a Norwegian painter currently living in Porsgrunn. She was born and raised in the north of Norway, by a Norwegian father and Danish mother. She has been moving around the country, spending years studying and working in Trondheim, Bergen, and Oslo – before settling down with her family in Telemark.