FJORD I Painting

The work is an emotional response to the landscape in arctic Norway. For about 50 days every winter, the sun is a distant memory. The long winters weigh heavy with longing for the sun, yet they teach you about perseverance and appreciation. I make work in response to the changes in light and abstractly document what this part of the world looks like in the absence of sunlight. The work seeks to evoke emotions, making the viewer feel the gravity of winter and how it can feel both heavy and light at the same time. FJORD I & II are both entirely hand made using traditional equipment and woven on a mechanical dobby loom. There are many processes involved in the making. The warp is first prepared, then stretched out over a larger table to be hand-painted. The warp needs time to fully dry, only then can it go on to the wooden loom. The set-up process starts by threading up each single warp end, one yarn at a time, ready for weaving. To interlock the vertical warp, the horizontal weft yarn is introduced, resulting in woven cloth. The textured weaves are indigo blue and light green, elegantly framed in a floating frame.