All Knotted Up: Fredrik Raddum’s Absurd Sculptures

Norwegian sculptor Fredrik Raddum turns the complications of everyday life into wonderfully bizarre scenes. His latest exhibition, Arme og Ben (Arms and Legs), at Copenhagen’s Hans Alf Gallery features cartoon-like characters with knotted limbs, bewildered expressions and bodies that refuse to behave. An oversized bird carrying a ghostly sheet adds another surreal twist.

Fredrik’s sculptures look playful at first, with exaggerated proportions and vibrant colors. But beneath the humor are sharp observations about personal anxieties, social pressures and the messy ways we relate to one another. Arms loop back on themselves, legs become tangled and entire bodies merge into dense knots, giving physical form to emotional burdens and complicated relationships.

The exhibition’s title plays on two contrasting expressions. In Danish, it suggests throwing yourself wholeheartedly into something, while in Norwegian it evokes chaos and entanglement. This double meaning captures Fredrik’s tragicomic approach, finding humor in the struggles and contradictions of being human.

Arme og Ben is on view at Hans Alf Gallery through November 20, 2026.

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