OPENING / IN ICELANDIC FOREST

IN ICELANDIC FOREST

For two years I was living in Hallormsstaðaskógur, in the largest forest area in Iceland. Coming from Finland, it was comforting to have the forest around me in a country where it is rare. Before, living in Finland, I did not even think how important it is to feel the shelter of trees around. This area with a lake, trees and the mountains, was familiar enough to feel like home and at the same time so exciting and new.

I translate life into the language of textiles. In these textiles, I express the mixed feelings I had living in this beautiful and fascinating country. I felt calm, happy, peaceful, inquisitive and sometimes a bit alien. I moved back to Finland in September 2019 and I have been working with the impressions, thoughts, feelings, and emotions I still carry with me from the time in Iceland.

In this art textiles I have used Icelandic and Finnish wool. Local wool materials carry a small part of the environment in them. Icelandic sheep wander in the highlands the whole summer and eat what the Icelandic nature offers. Wool is soft and coarse at the same time. With natural dyes, I incorporate another part of nature in my textiles.