by: Emily Werner

VÄV No. 2 / 2018

June 30th, 2018 by Emily Werner | Posted in Magazine, Weaving |

VÄV is here! This issue is Woven Art, Transforming Spaces, and it showcases artists and designers whose unique and often large scale pieces demand to be seen as true works of art, challenging the somewhat traditional view of textiles as a purely functional craft. That traditional viewpoint has been shifting more and more over the past few decades, thanks to artists like those mentioned here who thrive on redefining what it means to work with fiber.

[Sorry, item discontinued or temporarily out of stock]

In this issue you’ll read about Andreas Eriksson, a painter who was drawn into the world of fiber after thinking more about the fabric he was painting on. He now has a team of weavers who interpret his paintings into tapestries woven out of a variety of linens.

The sketches created from his paintings are merely a framework for the weavers to work within. The choice of weave structure, tone, texture, and density is up to the weavers to fill in as they see fit. Eriksson enjoys this collaborating, and believes it is what gives the pieces their unique look.

You’ll get major envy from reading about two large scale installations by Petter Hellsing (above), as well as Yuko Yokota and Johna Hansen, as it seems these pieces can only be fully appreciated in person. Hellsing, a Swedish artist with a background in sculpture, explores patterning, repetition, and ornamentation in an on-site creation called The Ornamentation of Existence. Combining handwoven cloth, wood, ceramics, and industrial pieces like large pulleys, he aims to create order out of chaos. A self-taught weaver, he has an optimistic approach to making. He says, “when I embark on something I have not fully mastered, it can only improve, which is deeply satisfying.” Inspirational words, for sure.

The other installation, called R/LOOM was created by Yokota and Hansen and grew out of a desire to investigate a place between architecture and weave. The architect and weaver came together without a clear idea of the final outcome of their collaboration. Their step-by-step process resulted in a larger than life loom form that assumed the whole space of the room it was in. Hansen describes the loom as a beautiful object in its own right. The largeness of the loom likens it to an architectural structure and is also a reminder that handweaving and textiles were once the backbone of people’s lives, even if the current speed of culture and fashion makes that hard to imagine.

Reading through the magazine, I discovered the artist behind the textile on the cover that first grabbed my attention. Josefin Gäfvert weaves rugs that are equally at home on the floor or on the wall. She began by weaving rag rugs, eventually devoting her time to developing her own way of weaving rugs. Creating freely is important to her, as is walking the line between gaudy and serious. Even though she weaves “rugs,” the functionality of the rugs has never been the important part. She views her creations more as “ideas about or portraits of rugs, rather than actual rugs.”

Vega Määttä Siltberg, a fiber artist who encourages the world to look at textiles the same way people have started to look at food, using what is available locally and seasonally in order to reduce environmental impact. By collecting reeds from a nearby pond in the middle of winter, she creates value out of previously valueless materials, simply by manipulating them with her hands.

I enjoyed the photographs of an exhibit organized by Katarina Evans, who tasked 8 different artists to create a piece using a plain white sheet. The artists included designers, architects, and illustrators, and the pieces are as varied and intriguing as you could expect. It is interesting to see the different directions that 8 people will take, despite starting with the same material.

[Sorry, item discontinued or temporarily out of stock]