By Steen Bruun Jensen, The trade magazine The Artist 1, 2026
Where are you from and where did you receive your education?
I was born in Silkeborg. I went to the Jutland Academy of Fine Arts for six months and then the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. I was affiliated with the academy 'interdisciplinary' for about a year and a half, was invited to exhibit at Charlottenborg and received a silver medal.
For some reason I then applied to the Film School's directing program – and for some reason I was accepted. I have since worked in film and TV. Back to back, made a lot of docs and a number of feature films, worked with, among others, Penelope Cruz, John Savage, Miquel Sandoval, Ridley Scott, Luc Besson and many others. Mostly abroad, where in recent years I mostly made wildlife productions for, among others, Nat Geo, Discovery, Off the Fence, Blue Ant and others – primarily in China, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
What are you working on now?
When the corona pandemic hit, all projects were shelved. I was working on a TV series about Vikings for the BBC, among others, and suddenly there was … nothing. Then I started my 'old' profession, which I noted in parentheses that I had missed my entire working life, and resumed painting and sculpture. I guess I brought the work discipline with me from film work and have now worked continuously for about six years.
After four years of 'internship', where I approached the expression that felt natural to me, I began to exhibit – which I now do and have done in Denmark and abroad, in galleries and at fairs. I am affiliated with good galleries in Denmark, Paris and Bangkok and today divide my working life between Copenhagen and Chiang Mai/Thailand, where I make my wooden sculptures in a type of wood with long fine veins, which is close to the acacia tree.
I am also a persistent and continuous user of Instagram – @pringgaard – and have gained a large number of my contacts and sales through it. It also functions as a kind of encyclopedia where you can keep up with what is happening in the global art world.
How would you describe your practice?
I find it difficult to express myself about my own work. Or rather… I prefer to be free. If I need words, I can write a book or make a film – which I have done. My works also have no titles.
But still... I work expressively figuratively, often with the human being at the center. I want an image or a figure to hide something. A figure or an idea that is hidden, and which you may only find upon closer inspection.
I always have a fixed idea of what a picture should look like. My iPhone and my computer are filled with thousands of images: subjects I find along the way… a person, a flower, colored carpets, floors, trees – whatever. I then use fragments from these. Distort them, use different colors. Remove or add.
I paint completely raw first to be sure to hit the right color, which often requires many attempts, after which I start on the details. Just as the film director Godard (perhaps a little crassly) proclaimed that there is only one right angle, the same applies to painting: There is only one right color. Then it's just a matter of finding it.
Overall, I find filmmaking and painting closely related. You create – as important as breathing, you do a piece of work, and maybe you are lucky enough to make a good picture or a good film. The big difference is the economy and the collective. Film and TV can be financially incredibly challenging: millions have to be raised, meetings, rejections, expectations, tension, stress, collective challenges are everyday life.
Today, however, I can get up at 6 a.m., go for a bike ride and visit a temple – like here in Chiang Mai, where I am right now – have a cup of coffee, and then the day is open and challenging, and I can get started on my things right away. That is a very great privilege.
As for my sculptures, the matter and the approach are a little different. It is a complicated, logistical job. I work with a local family who find the tree, which is always fallen or has to be cut down for some reason. Again, I usually start from the human being and give most of them some retro colors in the final stage. It is old school work – and time-consuming.
Why have you joined the Association of Visual Artists?
As a former film person, I am used to working with and for trade unions. Most film people are members of one or more trade unions. Becoming a member of the Danish Association of Visual Artists so relatively quickly is a natural continuation of this. And I look forward to the collaboration.
All images of works are from Peter Ringgaard's solo exhibition Without Boundary at Attasit Contemporary Art Gallery in Bangkok, Thailand, 2024