"If (you’re) alive – may the sea foam milk If (you’re) dead – may the sea foam blood…”

 

Jacquard woven piece woven by Kristina D. Aas.
Materials: Wool, viscose, polyester.
Size: 165x400 cm
Year of production: 2022

The fairy tale Egle The Queen of Serpents, from my home country, Lithuania, tells the story of Egle, awaiting word of her beloved. She cries out to the sea, "If (you are) alive - may the sea foam milk if (you are) dead - may the sea foam blood". Out of the sea erupts a foam of blood.

We live in a time when many have lost friends and family in the war in Europe. In the face of such boundless evil, one experiences overwhelming impotence and sorrow, like a liquid mass of lava.

Photographer of the work: Kristina D. Aas

Dreams. Under. series

The work is purchased by Lillesand kommune, for “Dovreheim”, home for elderly in Norway.

Two of forks in the series at cafe Vågal in Bergen.

These works are from the series Dreams. Under. It is a series of 4 works with inspiration from my dreams, and the unconscious images that I tried to recall over sometime. They are woven in layers with big yarn floats in an attempt to depict the layers of the “inner” images, where there is something behind, but you can not see it clearly. 

As my sight is damaged sometimes when I close my eyes I can see these “floating” images of colours and transparency. In a way, it is almost an impossible job to “reproduce” it, but the experience is so extraordinary that I have decided to give it a chance and translate it into woven images.   

Industrially woven.
Materials: Wool.
Sizes: Dreams. Under. I: 155x185 cm
Dreams. Under. II: 155x172 cm
Dreams. Under. III: 155x180 cm
Dreams. Under. IV: 156x191 cm
Year of production: 2021-2022

Photographer of the work: Kristina D. Aas

 

Mockup of the exhibition space with Dreams. Under IV.

Frut series

 

Handwoven on TC-2 loom.
Materials: Wool.
Sizes:
Apples: 87x58
Bananas: 53x85
Pomegranate: 36x35

Year of production: 2021

Photographer of the work: Kristina D. Aas

Winter tree

 

Jacquard and shaft loom woven piece, stitched.
Materials: Wool, linen, rayon.
Size: 103x130 cm
Year of production: 2021

Photographer of the work: Kristina D. Aas

When silence breaks

 

Jacquard woven piece woven by Kristina D. Aas.
Materials: Wool, polyester.
Size: 160x300 cm
Year of production: 2021

Photographer of the work: Kristina D. Aas

Bark

 

Jacquard woven piece woven by Kristina D. Aas.
Materials: Wool, viscose, polyester.
Size: 150x240 cm
Year of production: 2020

Photographer of the work: Eivind Senneset.

I often find inspiration in the forest: nowhere else do you see such a great variety of textures and contrasts: tree trunks, moss, bark, grass, stone, and earth. The soft surface meets the hard, dark light; textures are intertwined, repeated in an infinite pattern, only broke up by a broken branch or a mushroom hat sticking out. The fascinating thing is the tree's bark: some spots are like cracked skin or dried clay, in some places it is thin and smooth, glistening in the light, here and there covered with moss, or eaten up of beetles. Magnified, it is reminiscent of a landscape, a kind of unknown map of valleys and mountains, rivers, and lakes.

After many years of working with the jacquard weave, I turned my gaze to what is not easy to reproduce by just weaving. I have lately worked a lot on processing textiles afterwards: cut into threads, pull them out, dissolve. It is how I also built this motif: working in layers of the different shadows of yarns. In the end, I cut up and loosen the last layer to approach the feeling of moss over the wood.

This work was selected for juried exhibitions SKOG (en FOREST), Skien, Norway and BeCRAFT, European Prize for Applied arts 2021, Belgium.

Swoon

 

Jacquard woven piece woven by Kristina D. Aas.
Materials: Wool, viskose.
Size: 145x166 cm
Year of production: 2021

Photographer of the work: Kristina D. Aas

Unweaving V

 

Jacquard woven piece woven by Kristina D. Aas.
Materials: Wool, polyester.
Size: 155x322 cm
Year of production: 2020

Photographer of the work: Kristina D. Aas

Dissolving

 

Jacquard woven piece woven by Kristina D. Aas.
Digital drawing by Kristina D. Aas.
Materials: Wool, polyester.
Size: 164x230 cm
Year of production: 2020

Photographer of the work: Kristina D. Aas

Two Coils

 

Jacquard woven piece woven by Kristina D. Aas.
Digital drawing by Kristina D. Aas and Viktoria Aas.
Materials: Wool. polyester.
Size: 164x122 cm
Year of production: 2020

Photographer of the work: Kristina D. Aas

Ribbons

 

Jacquard woven piece
Materials: Wool. polyester.
Size: 161x208 cm
Year of production: 2020

Photographer of the work: Eivind Senneset.

Forest

 

The handwoven jacquard piece, stitched.
Materials: Wool
Size: 107x124 cm
Year of production: 2020

Photographer of the work: Kristina D. Aas

Viktoria II

 

This piece is a portrait of my daughter, Viktoria. The starting point is her own collaged “selfie” made with the assistance of a digital app. I took the photo and transformed it into woven artwork using my skills and knowledge in jacquard weaving. Experimenting with the limits of digital weaving, some threads are tightly woven while others are left loose. As I worked on this, I contemplated the complexity of being a teen today.

Jacquard woven piece. Woven by Kristina D. Aas, a self-portrait by Viktoria Aas.
Materials: Wool. polyester, linen
Size: 208x161 cm
Year of production: 2020

This work is selected for the Lumen Prize 2021 longlist.

Photographer of the work: Eivind Senneset.

Viktoria

 

Jacquard woven piece. Woven by Kristina D. Aas, a self-portrait by Viktoria Aas.
Materials: Wool. polyester
Size: 80x160 cm
Year of production: 2020

Photographer of the work: Eivind Senneset.