About Kjersti

I want to share with you more than my work CV. I want to show the whole person Kjersti Munkejord Lamb. The easiest thing would be to pull out a job CV, and end there. But I want to share with you the person Kjersti who is more than an impressive CV. Because life has taken its toll on me, and behind the facade and nice words on a CV, there is a life lived. A life that makes me the artist Kjersti Munkejord Lamb, and which has given me the ability to convey life, thoughts and feelings in pictures as I do today.

Life offers us many things. Our lives don't turn out quite as we dream and think they will. My life didn't turn out as I had imagined. But whose lives will? I've been through a divorce and a failed cohabitation. I've felt the feeling of defeat, shame and failure to create a happy family for my two sons. I had an illusion of a white house with a picket fence around it where the children played in the garden while the parents worked in the garden. This dream was replaced with a small crawl as a single mother and tight finances, not just once, but twice.
In my youth, I had prejudices about divorce. When I was young, I thought that it was far too easy to just get divorced! But today I can say that the choice to divorce is the toughest choice I have ever made in my life, and I have done it twice. I also had prejudices about women who have been married several times. I knew a woman who had been married three times, and in my mind this was completely wild. Today I am such a woman myself, and I pat myself on the back and say, you did the best you could, Kjersti. I have learned from life that a lot is hidden behind four walls. I have learned not to judge others. Behind my four walls, a lot of pain was hidden, and I chose to leave in order to carve out a life that could give meaning, security and joy for myself, and not least my children. I have spent fifteen years of my adulthood figuring out myself and my own desires and needs. It has required a lot of courage, many tears, anxiety and despair. But it has been worth it. There is much I would like to do, but I would not be the Kjersti I am today without these experiences. I have learned humility and respect for the lives and decisions of others from my own experiences.

When my little one was three months old, I was diagnosed with cancer. I escaped with surgery and follow-up for a few years. But I felt the fear of death and the terror, and it can still visit my house at times. Life suddenly became fragile. I planned my own funeral at night while breastfeeding my little son. After I learned that this would go well and the diagnosis was not as scary as I was first told, I baked buns almost every day for a year to emphasize that you have to enjoy yourself while you are alive. I lost my mother to cancer in 2012. She was only 60 years old. It was painful to stand by my mother's side and watch her wither away and suffer in pain. I felt I was far too young to lose my mother. Today I can feel envy for those who have a "mother". Life ends suddenly, so it is important to have collected as many good memories as possible. There will always be some less good memories, but they fade away a little when we lose our loved ones. That's the good thing you're left with, after time. I sang in a song that Carola made a year after her mother's death. For me, this was part of the process after the loss of her mother. If you want to hear the song, you can click on this link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L00pqDa-AJc

With the hardships of life, I have comfort-eaten myself to the fullest, and I have tortured myself through diets in the hope of becoming who I wanted to be. But today I can live with those extra kilos, and they come and go…. I am more than my kilos. I am beautiful as I am, I try to tell myself daily. Because we are all beautiful as we are. The best version of ourselves is to be completely ourselves, with all our vulnerability and life experiences, good and bad.

Why am I sharing all this? I share because it is life, and I think many others have experienced much of the same. I have learned that I am much more than the mistakes I have made. I am much more than the bad decisions I may have made in life. I am much more because I have learned from life and my experiences, and I have learned to be grateful. Life is beautiful, and vulnerability is one of the most beautiful things a person can show. Today, I can say with my hand on my heart that life is good, and I am grateful for the life experiences I have had along the way. It has shaped me into the person I am today. Without my defeats and my struggles, I would not be able to feel the great joy I do today that life is good. I can convey sadness, joy, gratitude, fear, discouragement, but not least love in my pictures, precisely because I have felt it in my own body.

In many of my pictures I have chosen to use my faith. I believe in God, and I believe that God is a good God. I see God as a generous Father with an understanding of life. I think that he looks at me and says: "Kjersti, come and sit here with me and tell me what you are struggling with? I see you are doing the best you can, and I love you". In my pictures I want to convey his infinite love and closeness.

With these honest words about myself, I hope you enjoy my photos.

My formal CV:

Born on Karmøy in 1975. Raised on the southern tip of Karmøy in a small place called Skudeneshavn. Design education from Norway and England. Lived in England from 1994-2003. Moved to Kristiansand, Norway in 2003.

Bachelor's degree in knitwear design from The Nottingham Trent University.

Master's degree in Fashion and Textiles from The Nottingham Trent University.

Three-year drawing/graphics education from Norway.

Design manager for Høie for 7 years, with overall responsibility for Høie bedding and Berger plaid design. Cultivated design winners for the Scandinavian market.

Headhunted by Donna Karen in New York (DKNY) with a job offer as a designer in New York.

The designs I have created have been purchased by Harrods.

Worked as a designer in London and New York.

Designed the school bag for Princess Alexandra when she started school in 2009.

Created and ran my own textile children's concept for a few years under the name Mossi Suss.

Won the "Brand for Good Design" award, which is Norway's highest design award.

Decorated hospitals, churches and hotels.