Video: Fiber and thread sculptures. Unusual installations by Gjertrud Hals
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
It's cold in Norway, where gnomes, elves and leprechauns live and work, and also a textile designer. Gjertrud Hals, who is the author of unusual sculptures and installations made, or rather, woven from threads and fibers. At first glance, all this seems to be the thinnest cobweb in which all sorts of things are stuck. But in fact, each such work has its own name, its own philosophy and context. Gertrude began her career as an "exemplary" textile designer: with tapestries, carpets, blankets, but then she began to experiment with different techniques and materials, in particular, flax and cotton fibers. Weaving was supplemented by felting, knitting and other handicrafts, and the works turned into real masterpieces, unlike any other work that the craftswoman had previously obtained.
Carried away not only by weaving, but also by the history of Scandinavia in general, and Norway in particular, Gertrude Hals tried to combine these hobbies into one venture, and abstract installations began to emerge from her hands, with which she, by her own admission, tries to express the connection between micro- the history of the islands and the macro-history of the rest of the world. Thus, tiny insects created from wire, thread and fiber are micro-creatures in the macro-world, which often remain invisible due to their size. But they are no less interesting than larger creatures - people who form a macro-world.
Another work by Gertrude Hals is associated with Scandinavian myths, an installation called Fenris. The title of the work, which is a wide web woven of linen, soft threads and fibers and decorated with "gifts of nature", in the sense of objects found in nature, refers to the Scandinavian myth of the Norse gods. So, Fenris was a wolf, the son of one of the gods named Loki, who, according to myth, was chained to the chain of Gleipnir, created by the dwarves not from metal, but from the roots of mountains, the noise of cat footsteps, the beards of women, the saliva of birds, the voice of fish and sinews bears. She was thin and soft as silk. And only Gleipnir was able to keep the monster into which the wolf cub had grown.
Gertrude Hals still has a lot of unusual works, both in the archive and in the asset. They are both related and not related, but in any case they are very interesting. All of this can be found on her website.
Recommended:
Miniature Power Lines and Cranes: Thread Sculptures by Takahiro Iwasaki
The works of the talented Japanese artist Takahiro Iwasaki amaze viewers not only with their miniature size, but also with the materials from which they are made. A roll of wide scotch tape, a thread from a terry towel or even a toothbrush fiber - almost anything can become a material for unusual "man-made" sculptures
The most unusual thread installations
The heroes of our today's review work with threads, but somewhat differently from the way we are used to using this material. They do not sew, knit or embroider - this is too commonplace: they weave cobwebs and arrange nets
Strange creatures made of letters and numbers. Unusual sculptures by June Corley
Letters and numbers exist not only to fill the pages of books and magazines, but also to show off on stands and signs. Artist June Corley from Alabama has known this for a long time and firsthand - for many years she has been collecting large and small, wooden, plastic and metal letters with numbers left over from signs that have fallen into disrepair. From this material, she then creates unusual, very interesting sculptures that look like strange people or animals
Pottery with tongues and fingers. Unusual sculptures by Ronit Baranga
If the walls have ears, why shouldn't the dishes have fingers, lips, teeth and other parts of the body? After all, how wonderful it would be, waking up in the morning, to whisper to the wall in your ear that it would be nice to have a cup of hot coffee with cream, and so that a cup of coffee would stomp into the bedroom itself
Multi-colored thread spider web. Installations by Gabriel Dawe
Probably in a past life, Mexican artist Gabriel Dawe, now living in Texas, was a spider. How else to explain those large-scale installations of incredible beauty and complexity that he skillfully weaves from multi-colored threads, turning such seemingly everyday objects into works of art, real masterpieces that you want to look at forever?