Torbjørn Rødland, Headphones, 2016–18. Chromogenic print. 55 1/8 x 43 3/8 inches. Courtesy of David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles.

The Strange and the Mundane: Torbjørn Rødland Interviewed by Osman Can Yerebakan

Photographs that make you look twice.In his photographs of sun-filled Los Angeles interiors or flora-dense backyards, Norwegian-born artist Torbjørn Rødland flirts with his viewer by contrasting clinical level hygiene with elements of contamination and excess. At first, seductive models of irresistible charm engage with fetishized objects or one another amid desirably impeccable atmospheres. However, Rødland veers away from safe territories with eerie accents he incorporates into his enigmatic visual narrative. The artist’s current exhibition, Backlit Rainbow, at L.A.’s David Kordansky Gallery furthers Rødland’s two-decade-long venture into complicating the border between the familiar and the eerie. The artist answered my questions over the phone while preparing for his exhibition with the gallery.

—Osman Can Yerebakan