"Den tid jag behöver"

Last week I went to a fairly new museum in Stockholm, Sven-Harrys. They had an exhibition their about a textile artist Lisa Karlsson who I've never heard of before. The exhibition is called "Den tid jag behöver" ("The time I need") and she works mainly in patchwork. In the catalog there is a text by Anders Krüger comparing her work to writing;  

"Writing is stitching words together, hoping that the text as a whole will somehow mysteriously surpass its discrete parts, in grandeur as well as meaning. You can never be certain; there's an infinite supply to choose from. It's all about some kind of intuition, a knowing that certain words fit others better, yielding sentences of more pith."

It is a good reference for weaving as well -  where the yarn is the words and letters and the grammar is the weaving technique. We often get the question of how long does it take to make a tapestry. The textile artist Annika Ekdahl answer to that is usually a comparison of the making of a monumental tapestry with writing a novel - who can say how long it takes to make a novel?

Utställning Lisa Karlsson "Den tid jag behöver", Sven-Harrys konstmuseum
Photo: Alice Lund Textilier AB

Utställning Lisa Karlsson "Den tid jag behöver", Sven-Harrys konstmuseum
Photo: Alice Lund Textilier AB

Utställning Lisa Karlsson "Den tid jag behöver", Sven-Harrys konstmuseum
Photo: Alice Lund Textilier AB

Utställning Lisa Karlsson "Den tid jag behöver", Sven-Harrys konstmuseum
Photo: Alice Lund Textilier AB

Another interesting group of artists working in patchwork and quilt are the women of Gee's Bend. In Gee's Bend, a small community in Alabama, the women have for many generations made quilts in the most amazing colors and design. Their story derives from slavery and poverty in the American south. It is great to see that art and creativity survives and thrives even in the most discouraging environments. Here one can really detect the reference to writing, The pattern of the quilt seems at first random and unorganized. But at a second glance the story starts to stretch out in a rhythmic almost songlike way - the composing of a beautiful work of art as well as the writing of these women's destinies and lives. Somehow I think Sofia would be very inspired by these women and their textile art!

Quilt from Gee´s Bend
Photo: www.internationalfolkart.org

Annie E. Pettway, Flying Geese variation, ca. 1935;
cotton, wool; 86 by 71 inches.
Photo: www.fiberarts.com

Jessie T. Pettway, Bars and string-pieced columns, 1950s;
cotton; 95 by 76 inches.
Photo: www.fiberarts.com