Karin Carlander
DRAFT OF A CRAFT
In the world of textile artist and weaver Karin Carlander, past
traditions intertwines with present takes on weaving. Meet a woman who knows her way around her craft
Big looms, what ordinary people would call big looms. I work from an old industrial site. A space reserved for craftspeople only. My next-door neighbour is a blacksmith forging over an open ace.
There is life here. Delivery trucks passing by, people from the city coming for their Sunday outings. Some think this is a museum. They look through the windows.
My newest loom is a gift from a lady who is now in a nursing home. The most beautiful piece made in Oregon pine. I am profoundly in love with it. It has a reasonable size; it’s small but it doesn’t know it. The seat is deep, you can really enter the loom, make a good opening.
My oldest loom is the largest. Right now I prepare a 14-meter long collage for an exhibition. It consists of 13 carpets in a very thin yarn. Flax. Each carpet is 1 meter 40 wide. I have made two so far, I’ve been wondering if it’s doable at all. It’s physically demanding, I have to stand up, moving from one side to the other.
WEAVING IS MATHEMATICS, YOU CONSTANTLY COUNT, YOU NEED TO CONCENTRATE. IT´S DIFFICULT IF YOU´RE INTERRUPTED.
I always start a new project by cleaning and tidying. It’s a mental preparation. While I do things, I work in my head, begin to plan. Look at my yarns, I compare. Look at the colours.
Weaving is such a repetitive art form. I aim at conveying a non-repetitive expression. I work intensely with repetition. It takes many samples. First I do black and white samples. I like to work with technique. Making the technical part as simple as possible.
The loom has it’s own logic. It offers you so much. Working with black and white makes you look at the texture and its options. I try to simplify, it takes technical knowledge.
But I know my loom. We’ve been through a lot. I try to force something intuitive, unexpected. To some, it may be a hindrance that weaving is so technical. You can disappear in technicalities. But when I work with the samples unplanned things may come up, beautiful things.
The slowness of the process gives you depth. With regards to your material and you media. It brings a deeper understanding of the construction. It is such an important understanding.
The expression arises when you try out techniques, work with colours. If you skip that process, you loose a lot. Today so many objects are designed on a computer. The same designer can create a pretty cup or a poster or a rug. To me that is simply decoration. It’s not craft.
I LEAVE IT UP TO THE LOOM TO MAKE SUGGESTIONS, WHEN I DO MY SAMPLES
The process behind craftsmanship should be in the body, not just in your mind. Just like music.
I believe it’s a good thing to have in your life, don’t you?”
The throw Pine is designed by Karin Carlander. The name and design refers to the nordic pine in the scandinavian woods. The design has needles like the spruce needles in different slanted shapes. With the Pine throw you can enjoy the silence and explore the pattern while looking at the throw as well as the nordic pine.
The Pine throw is made in four colors in the size 130 x 200 cm
and is woven from 100% baby alpaca.
