My PhD

In 2016, I began my artistic PhD project at The National Academy of Arts in Oslo, which concluded in 2022 and led me to write and direct my first live-action short film. I learned a lot from this experience, and I hope that others can benefit from it through my written reflection, which can be downloaded as a PDF here.

(Please note that it’s written in Norwegian, except for two interviews with director Fede Alvarez and comic artist Sammy Harkham, which can be found on pages 316 and 326.)

My reflection is an edited diary that I kept during my PhD years, where those who are interested can gain insight into my (often messy and chaotic) creative processes. It includes thoughts and observations on everything from drawing just for fun, commissions for The New Yorker, making comics, to putting together my big retrospective illustration book and more.

It also covers my first experiments with the film medium, from small exercises and the Sci-fi breakfast TV pilot 'NRK Hyper' that I created with Flu Hartberg. It also documents the journey from being a solitary cartoonist to directing the short film 'Liker stilen,' with music by my friend Todd Terje, based on my comics.

Baked into all of this is a lot of personal material, since art and life goes hand in hand, and it’s impossible to separate the two. At least for me, it is.

Finally, I have interviewed some great artist working in the field of comics and film and the land in-between: Carl Johan De Geer, Yngvild Sve Flikke, Inga Sætre, Kristoffer Borgli, Fede Alvarez, and Sammy Harkham.

The film Liker stilen, which was my main piece, can be watched here.

The written reflection can be downloaded here.

Link to the project page at KHiO here.

Hope you’ll enjoy it, and feel free to concoct me for feedback :)