The Sound of a Line

Artists

Signe Jais

Press release

SPECTA presents the exhibition The Sound of a Line, featuring new works by Signe Jais, in which the subtle perceptions embedded in two-dimensional drawings unfold into paper and thread. Through meticulous repetition, Signe Jais creates collages in which straight, flat lines sketch rotating spatial forms, bridge empty spaces, and draw the sound of an echo. We become aware of the impressions hidden within the perfect system.

Signe Jais is inspired by descriptive geometry. Being a method for translating depth and spatiality into drawing, the works are not necessarily depicting strictly correct geometry but focus on the space and movement that a flat drawing can reveal.

Already in her choice of materials, Jais leads us away from the two-dimensional and from bare facts. She uses both old and new paper, awakening our senses and memory. To this tactile paper, Signe Jais adds sewing thread in various colors; and although the threads function as simple lines, the works become three-dimensional objects. In several works, the object-like character is emphasized by mounting the cardboard bases slightly raised from the background, so that they appear to float within box frames.

The exhibition title, The Sound of a Line, may seem intangible; yet in the works presented, the geometric system becomes a way of describing the idea that any space is not understood visually alone, but is also the result of our reflections, light, sound, distance, and repetition. Just as when we speak of a building having rhythm, or when we read a flat map that shows mountains, valleys, rivers, and buildings.

Often Signe Jais stretches the thread from one surface to another, establishing connections in space. These connections are not merely formal, but spatial and perceptual. The thread transcends the picture plane, activates the surrounding space, and casts a shadow that almost functions as a secondary drawing - an immaterial extension of the line that supports the works’ exploration of space as both physical and relational.

Signe Jais (DK, 1967) graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and has exhibited widely. Most recently, in 2023 she participated in EN COLLAGE. Franciska Clausen 125 Years at Kunstmuseet Brundlund Slot, Aabenraa, DK, and A Set of Points Swept by a Moving Straight Line at SPECTA, Copenhagen, DK. In 2025 she will present Samling (duo show with Anna Sørensen) at Galleri Lene Bilgrav, Aarhus, DK.

Signe Jais is represented in several collections, including Statens Kunstfond, Ny Carlsbergfondet, NOVO Nordisk, and the City of Copenhagen.