“The process is an important part of my projects and the craft behind means everything.”
This is an embroidery that I am working on for my exhibition Eden at Nikolaj Kunsthal, 2021. I love experimenting with textiles and working with a lot of techniques. I work from everywhere. Also in the garden of our country house in Sweden. It was supposed to be a Summer holiday… Working in the garden at home in Copenhagen. And in the car… But my Eden project had the worst start braking my right hand and because of that getting a chronic nerve disease. But it is not gonna stop me! Small pieces for at new art work. Using yarn from previous projects. Knit knit… Setting up my loom in Sweden. Hello I am using left overs of yarn. Some of the woven parts. I ended up only using a few of them so now I have woven pieces for a new project. During lock down I was drawing as much as my hand would allow me. For embroideries I am sticking the paper sketches on the machine before embroidering it by hand. Yes, I have patience… Mixing yarn and fabrics. I am embroidering on organza silk. Working on a flower child. I have been dyeing the organza in advance. 3 frames for 1 embroidery Trying a new tool yeah! At the Danish Art Workshops to work with the tufting gun. Already friends. When you are tufting you are working from the backside. I love backsides. But I have to cut it… …and glue it, because the tufting gun makes loops and not knots… The is the front. At some of the tufted pieces I have decided to embroider the backgrounds. Another piece. A lot of planning… Nikolaj Kunsthal is huge! Nikolaj Kunsthal is a former church and despite of its 900 m2 there is almost no walls so I have decided to make easels for all art pieces. Christian is drawing the easels and are making frames for all art works. Christian is building prototypes for the easels. Nikolaj Kunsthal is building the final ones. Sometimes it snows in April… and in June… Frames in the making. Testing colors of stain. Decided to make the easels yellow. The frames are more natural. My workshop is too small so I have taken over our living room. Here I’m in Sweden starting up the loom to work on Dark Matter. Working on the loom. Knitting in Christian’s chair. Small knitted pieces that I am going to mix with other woven pieces. It takes a lot of samples to do a project. …and it takes a lot of mistakes too… Sometimes I use the backside. Embroidering for Dark Matter. Dyeing thread for the loom. The loom. Slowly putting the pieces together at The Danish Art Workshops. This gobelin is 400 x 250 cm. The dog belongs to Cathrine Raben Davidsen. My husband Christian is building frames for Dark Matter. He is working in the basement of our house. Same frame but in different sizes. The big frame for Mørkt Stof needs to be made in our Living Room – the basement is too small. Finishing Mørkt Stof on the floor. Adding some final pieces at Horsens Art Museum. Mørkt Stof from Dark Matter at Horsens Art Museum 2019. Fitting with Birgitte. A lot of samples in the making. In my cave at the 3rd floor of our house. I love using leftovers. Building up shape. The paper patterns for The Queen of No Man’s Land. Preparing fabrics. It is cotton. “Come and cut with me” – workshop. Workshop and beers. Mini fringes in different color. Adding fringes one by one. I love my machine. This is my fur machine. The inside without lining. The lining. Sketch of Anubis masks. Profile. Clay model in progress. Clay model for paper mâché masks. The early start with the paper mâché. My man! The shape is almost there. Now painting. Everytime the sun is shining we strike to work outside. Hello! Painting the Anubis body. Body parts. The Queen of No Man’s Land at Maison du Danemark, 2014. Sketching on a new project. The selected sketch for Only Angels Have Wings and Björk dress. Björk has seen this dress from Only Angels Have Wings and want one for her Vulnicura Tour, 2015. Björk’s body, 2015. The dummy is ready for draping. Paper patterns for Björk dress. The dress is made of recycled fur. Here Thea from Saga is opening a vintage coat. The backside of the dress. Printing foil on fur. Mink with foil. Sewing fur pieces on silk. Handmade labels. It’s done. Finished Björk dress before shipping. Dress for Emmelie de Forest, Eurovision, 2014. Always remember to have a good working position! Gluing small pieces of plastic straw on the mannequin body. Blooming. Finished backs. Detail. Only Angels Have Wings from at Shapes of Fashion, Textilmuseet Borås, 2016. Only Angels Have Wings at Martin Asbæk Gallery, 2014. Only Angels Have Wings from at Shapes of Fashion, Textilmuseet Borås, 2016. I want to make a dress with same look at the children. It needs to be flexible. In progress. Lace of painted and printed silk is cut by hand. More mink with printed foil. I am going to make a dress of rivets. Shoes! No prefabrication here. Straw shoes. Lace shoes. Always a lot of body parts here. I am going to make androids for the dresses, but they need new feet to fit the shoes. I want to give them flexible joints. Still need to fix the heads. Now I’m painting all the body parts. The androids without the dresses. Going to Maison du Danemark, 2015. Only Angels Have Wings at Horsens Art Museum, 2014. Only Angels Have Wings at Martin Asbæk Gallery, 2014. The white straw android is a part of the permanent exhibition, Danish Design Now at Designmuseum Danmark. The first time I worked with straws was in Sukker, Øksnehallen, 2008. Photo by Nicky de Silva, Schön! #5, 2010. In 2011 I am invited by Designmuseum Danmark to make a modern interpretation of rococo. It is the first time I am working with straws for dresses. All straws are cut and sewn on one by one. The straw dress from The Dance of the Deaf and Dumb Eye. Here going to Maison du Danemark in Paris, 2015. The mannequin is without wig during transportation. The dolls are going to wear big wigs with chimpanzees inside. Hands and feet in paper mâché. See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil. Painting. Heads for wigs when they are not on the dolls. Sewing the wigs. Photo by Alastair Philip Wiper. The Dance of the Deaf and Dumb Eye at Sven-Harry’s Konstmuseum, Stockholm 2020. Photo by Pelle Bergström. In the warehouse. In 2011 I am at The Danish Art Workshops working on Stone of Man from Slowly Seeping Through My Hands. Some of the mannequins. With Stone of Man I am making my interpretation of the Sisyphus rock and is making a skeleton for it. The center of the skeleton. Going to Horsens Art Museum, 2011. The skeleton. Still some bodies to be added and some paint to be painted. Stone of Man from Slowly Seeping Through My Hands, Horsens Art Museum, 2011.
