Du er sød - skal vi være kærester? (2025)
Roskilde Minicipality - Hestetorvet, Stændertorvet, Kreativt hus for børn, Roskilde Bibliotek (DK)
Materials: Wood, paint
Dimensions: 13 sculptures, 120 x 200 x 120 cm each
24 May - 29. Sep 2025

’Du er sød - skal vi være kærester?’ is a public art piece in Roskilde Municipality consisting of 13 sculptures in form of oversized love letter paperplanes. The project is a collaboration between Roskilde Municipality, Roskilde Festival, and Nicolai Risbjerg, and runs throughout the summer of 2025. In addition to the sculptures, the project has also taken the form of three performances at Roskilde Festival. The performance is a collaboration between Roskilde Festival, Art Hub Copenhagen, and Nicolai Risbjerg.
Finally, the project has also manifested in a series of events at Roskilde Library and the Creative House for Children, including love letter paper plane workshops, where children launched masses of paper plane messages out the windows and down onto Roskilde’s pedestrian street.

Thanks: Roskilde Municipality and curators Julie Popp and Rosa Danielsen. Thanks you Roskilde Libraries and Roskilde Literature Festival, Sif Vincent Brunemark, and Kreativt hus for børn.
Thank you to Roskilde Festival and their curator/coordinator team: Andrea Mæland, Signe Brink Wehl, Rosa Danielsen, Sarah Staalhøj and Ditte Knus Tønnesen. Thank you to Art Hub Copenhagen and the entire team behind the collaboration with Roskilde Festival: Marie Braad Larsen, Clara Mosconi, Jacob Fabricius, Susanne Hviid. Thank you to the RF25 Art and Activism production team: Christine Due Jacobsen, Alice Pappila, Ida Lods, Caroline Stokholm, Matilde Tams and Rasmus Stendorph. Thank you to the performers: Nicolai Risbjerg, Jone André Tou, Sigrid Lerche, Mette Bjørndal, Laura Kley, Lisette Møller-Nielsen, Mads Meulengrath, Frida Rolskov, Anna Eli Thomsen and William Yazaki Schou.
Thanks to Værk.Aps: Oscar Yran and Dina Lundvall Nielsen. Thanks to KKART and VAK art workshops.
Photos and video was made by Pernille Emilia Kjær.

Press: www.sn.dk/art6314248/roskilde-kommune/kultur/hvem-er-det-der-spoerger-om-vi-skal-vaere-kaerester/ 
www.idoart.dk/kalender/nicolai-risbjerg-du-er-soed-skal-vi-vaere-kaerester

Gotta Catch ‘Em All (2024)
Allerød Skulpturpark, Allerød (DK)
Materials: Coated aluminum, mesh tank top
Dimensions: 180 x 140 x 140 cm
Photos: Morten Underbjerg
Supported by: Poul Johansen Fonden

Presse / kritik:
https://www.norskebilledkunstnere.no/billedkunst/aktuelt/transformasjon-i-lek

Is There Love on Mars? (2024)
Udstillingsstedet Sydhavn Station, Copenhagen (DK)
Materials: Total installation, publication, performance event
Dimensions: variable

Two years ago, the first Dane was sent to the International Space Station for the second time. More than 650 people have already been to space, and soon space will become accessible to ordinary people like you and me. It’s possible to buy a star, name it after yourself or someone you love. The next step might be that we start asking: Are you ready for a date that transcends time and space?
Throughout history, it has been romantic to gaze at the stars and out into the universe. To dream of venturing into the infinite and exploring the unknown. How wild would it be to return to Earth and tell stories of how romantic it was to play tag while floating weightlessly, kissing close to the stars, and holding hands while looking down at the small planet Earth, where the rest of humanity goes about their lives?
Space tourism is no longer just a sci-fi scenario. The space race is in full swing, and with more than a handful of companies selling tourist tickets for space travel—having already sent the first tourists into space and/or in the process of building space hotels—the dream of being the first lovers on the Moon or seeing for yourself if there is life on Mars is no longer just the stuff of dreamy song lyrics but an imminent possibility for us humans.
Space holds enormous potential for humanity, but it also raises questions about the new world order and the consequences that the colonization of outer space might bring. Perhaps humanity needs a common external mission to avoid our conflicts here on Earth? If space—or extraterrestrial beings—can become a shared goal or a common enemy, maybe we will stop making enemies of each other and instead see ourselves as a united humanity.

Supported1 by: Statens Kunstfond, Rådet for Visuel Kunst, Augustinusfonden, Kongens Enghave Lokaludvalg, Poul Johansen Fonden, Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond og Beckett-Fonden.
Thanks: VAK kunstværksteder, Udstillingsstedet Sydhavn Station, Jone Tou, Heine Klausen, Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen, Alberte Skronski, Davide Hjort Di Fabio

Photos: Morten Underbjerg

Press:
https://www.idoart.dk/kalender/nicolai-risbjerg-is-there-love-on-mars
https://artmatter.dk/journal/billedserie-nicolai-risbjerg-is-there-love-on-mars/

The Queers In The Shadows (2023)

Udstillingsstedet Sydhavn Station, Copenhagen (DK)
Materials: Styrofoam, coated aluminum, polyurethane, paint
Dimensions: 120 x 140 x 120 cm
Photos: Mikkel Kaldal
Supported by: The Danish Art Counsil

Press:
www.kunsten.nu/skattejagt-udstillingsstedet-sydhavn-station
hwww.idoart.dk/kalender/gruppeudstilling-skattejagt

"The Queers in The Shadows" is based on the phenomenon of the 'Hays Code,' a set of self-censorship rules imposed on film producers in the United States from 1934. In essence, these rules stipulated that motion pictures should not depict perversion, etc., including queer characters.
One of the historical ways in which queer characters could be subtly portrayed (‘Queer Coding’) was by presenting them as adversaries who needed to be defeated. The list of 'Queer Villains' is extensive. In Disney alone, we find characters like Hades, Ursula, John Ratcliffe, Jafar, Yzma, Cruella De Vil, Scar, Captain Hook... All known for their over-the-top personalities, drag character traits, and their non-heteronormative agendas that go against the protagonist's or even the hero's agenda.
Even though 'The Hays Code' was officially lifted in the USA in 1968, it has been challenging to reverse this trend. We still see plenty of queers in the shadows of major narratives, portrayed as outsiders, not fitting in, being evil, causing harm, or even dying.

Attachments - of Might and Magic (2023)
Galleri Toll, Stockholm (SE)
Materials: Bronze, brick powder, print on shower curtains
Dimensions: 180 x 240 x 80 cm
Made in collaboration with Mette Bjørndal
Curated by: Maria Toll

Ungdommelig kraft og drift (2024)
SAK Kunstbygninig, Svendborg (DK)
Materials: plaster
Dimensions: 140 x 80 x 5 cm

I grew up in a pop culture where there was a lack of representation of queer identities and gender expressions. The queer-coded characters I encountered were villains who had to be stopped (think: Ursula, Cruella De Vil, Hades, etc.).
As I got older and started watching films aimed at a more mature audience, I noticed that queer characters often had incredibly tragic fates and frequently lost their lives (think: Milk, Prayers for Bobby, Brokeback Mountain, etc.), possibly a lingering effect of The Hays Code?

Fortunately, (pop) culture has evolved significantly over the past 5-10-20 years, but we still need to update our narratives so that our portrayal of society reflects the people who live and grow up in it.
Because I believe that representation in culture is a step toward understanding our fellow human beings, which will hopefully lead to greater tolerance and less marginalization—so that we can all live in a society where the new normal is being able to be yourself in public without being shouted at or spat on.

This piece was created in connection with the 100th anniversary of sculptor Kai Nielsen’s death. I don’t know if Kai Nielsen was queer, but he worked with themes of beauty, youthful strength, aesthetics, and desire—often through Greek and Nordic mythology.
I have reinterpreted his works Youthful Strength and Desire (The Kiss).

Thanks: VAK Kunstværksteder, SAK Kunstbygning, KKART ApS, Dansk Billedhuggersamfund, Mette Bjørndal, Jone André Tou

Busy Living a Dream (2022)
Skulpturpark Prøvestenen Syd, Copenhagen (DK)
Dimentations: 300 x 150 x 150 cm
Materials: Casted aluminium, powder coating, burned wood, crucible, metal residues from casting.
Curated by: Signe Rohardt Lund, Zander Vind, Linda Louise Karlsson, Nicolai Risbjerg, Ditte Marie Frost, Christine Due Jacobsen
Photos by: Luna Lund Jensen and Christine Due

The exhibition, Skulpturpark Prøvestenen Syd, is featuring:
Marie Vedel, Anna Walther, Maiken Stæhr, Mette Bjørndal Velling, Lasse Hieronymus Bo, Elsa Essinger, Siska Katrine Jørgensen, Clara Mosconi, Therese Bülow, Søren Frederik Petersen, Jonas Brøns-Piche, Dan Brown Brønlund, Maria Jacobson, Maria Toll, Christine Due, Nicolai Risbjerg, Zander Vind, Signe Rohardt Lund, Ditte Marie Frost & Linda Louise Karlsson.

The exhibition is supported by: Amagerøst Lokaludvalg, AP Møller Fonden, Knud Højgaards Fond, Poul Johansen Fonden
In collaboration with: Agnes Aagaard Andersen, By & Havn, Prøvestenens Natur- og Fritidsforening.

Links:
The exhibition homepage: www.skulpturpark2022.wordpress.com
Press and pictures: www.idoart.dk/skulpturpark-proevestenen-syd

Tough Enough To Soften Up (2021)
Den Frie Udstillingsbygning, Copenhagen (DK)
Materials: Bronze, aluminum, flat bench
Dimensions: 150x50x50 cm
Photo credit: IDOART-Agency