MYRUP, Rasmus
The Völvas Bestiary of Best Friends

In The Völva’s Bestiary of Best Friends we are introduced to characters from Danish folklore, Scandinavian history and Norse mythology, as envisioned by artist Rasmus Myrup.

Making their first appearance as a series of sculptures by Myrup, the characters from this Bestiary are all seen through the lens of a Seeress – The Völva. She knows everything her folkloric friends have been through and will endure in the future. It’s a heavy burden: the workaholism of The Bog Lady, failed attempts by The Elven Girls to end the Patriarchy, Freya’s sob story, the sexual frustrations of The Stream Man and Hild’s inability to stop the war between her lover and her dad. In Myrup’s world, they have befriended each other across multiple spheres of fiction – if they don’t know each other, they at least know of each other.

Whether they are embodiments of natural elements, misunderstood misses of myth or corporeal manifestations of counter-culture, these figures have all lived outside the realm of human civilization – but just like us, they have a knack for being unable to see the obvious ways they could fix their flaws and save themselves. The Völva’s lips runneth over with scaldingly hot takes and reads her friends probably can’t handle – so she writes them down. To clear the visions from her retina, she draws them. She is not a tattletale, she lets destiny run its course – but in one book she unleashes her pent up load of sticky secrets: The Völva’s Bestiary of Best Friends. [publishers’ note]

Published by Coda Press / s/z, 2023
Design by Sabo Day, assisted by Augustinas Milkus
Artists' Books / Comics & Illustrations / Magic