Kristina D. Aas Karina N. Presttun & (NO)

KRISTINA DAUKINTYTĖ AAS and KARINA NØKLEBY PRESTTUN have had a close professional relationship since they met at the Department of Fine Art at the Bergen Academy of Art and Design (KHiB). Kristina graduated with a master’s degree in 2011, and Karina graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 2009.

The common ground between these two artists is their interest in textiles. The materials serve as the foundation for an idea, which in turn take new directions and flourish into its individuality and distinctiveness in the process.

About the exhibition

(scroll ned for norsk tekst)

We are both constantly trying to figure out what craft is to us. Is it learning age-old skills and perfecting it until you have it engraved in your muscle memory? Or the ability to understand and accept the possibilities and limitations of a specific material? Is it experimentation? Or perhaps a combination of all the above?

And how do you relate it all to the climate-crisis? Do you try to do everything as environmentally-friendly as possible or do you justify it by saying that the message is more important? And your message - is it really that important? Is it even a message, or is it just a vague feeling you're trying to convey?

We don't have the answers. But for the works presented in this project, we try to merge several of our combined interests. Kristina has provided a large amount of jacquard woven samples from the factory where she works. They have all been designed by her with great care and skill and have undeniable qualities, but have been discarded for several reasons. They may not have worked out in their intended context, technical difficulties with the loom had unintended consequences, or maybe the colours just didn't look right - regardless of the reason there is value to the material that should not go to waste.

Karina has presented one of her recent discoveries: that latex can be used to glue air-drying clay to textiles. Her interest in recycled materials started years ago, and it seemed like an exciting match with Kristina's textiles. The combinations of textiles, latex and clay are unpredictable, and we are still learning it's rapidly changing ways. In just two months the latex has already changed both colour are texture, and it will continue to do so for a while. The latex might rot and the clay might collapse. The basis for all the works will still be high-quality wool fabric. One thing is for sure: we have to be open for all the surprises that will come along.

At parties in art school way back when, it was not uncommon for students from the departments of ceramics and textiles (yes, we know it's different now) to have discussions at 3AM along the lines of "my craft is older than yours".

And some pieces from this exhibition reminds us about that. It reminds us craft has been around for a really, really long time. We are only two people, but we have the knowledge of thousands of years of craftsmen and women at our fingertips, and access to computer power and expensive machines that up until recently just seemed like science fiction. So many possibilities in a world that seems to be, one way or another, on the verge of collapse. It's all quite staggering.

Om utstillingen

Vi jobber stadig med å finne ut av hva kunsthåndverk er og kan være for oss.

Handler det om å lære og perfektsjonere eldgamle teknikker? Eller gjelder det å forstå og akseptere muligheter og bergrensninger som ligger i ethvert materiale? Vill eksperimentering? Eller en kombinasjon av nevnte (og unevnte) forslag, kanskje?

Og hvordan skal man forholde seg til klimakrisen? Prøver du å gjøre alt så miljøvennlig som mulig eller slår du deg til ro med at målet helliger middelet? Og hva er egentlig målet - har du noe konkret å formidle, eller er det bare en vag følelse av noe?

Vi har ikke svarene. Men i verkene i denne digitale utstillingen har vi prøvd å slå sammen våre overlappende interessefelt. Fra fabrikken i Innvik der hun jobber har Kristina tatt med seg store mengder jacquardvevde stoffer. Stoffene er møysommelig designet av henne, men av ulike grunner har de blitt forkastet på fabrikken. Noen ganger blir det bare ikke sånn man tror og håper på, andre ganger skjer det ting i vevstolen som gir et utilsiktet resultat og feilvare. Noen ganger blir bare fargene "feil". Allikevel, når man ser på disse stoffene ser man umiddelbart at de har ubestridte kvaliteter og det føles meningsløst å kaste det.

Karina har lenge være interessert i brukte materialer av alle typer, men har siste halve året vært opptatt ned å lage prøver med tekstil, lufttørkende leire og flytende lateks. Lateksen fungerer som tekstillim, stivelse og tekstur som transformerer tekstilen. Dette burde vel bli spennende å prøve ut med de forkastede stoffene?

I overkant spennende noen ganger! Kombinasjonen leire, latex og tekstil er uforutsigbar og vi er fortsatt i en læreprosess. På bare to måneder har lateksen endret seg drastisk både i farge og tekstur, og vi vet ikke når den stopper. På sikt vil den morkne og leiren kan komme til falle av tekstilene. Uavhenging av det vil utgangspunket for verkene være ullstoffer av høy kvalitet. En ting er sikkert: vi må være åpne for overraskelsene som garantert kommer til å dukke opp.

På Kunsthøyskolefestene (jada, begynner å bli en stund siden nå), kunne man tidvis komme opp i diskusjoner, gjerne utpå natten, om hvilket materiale som har de eldste tradisjonene: keramikk eller tekstil. Det er ikke noe vi skal gå inn på her, men for oss ligger det en fornemmelse av noe gammelt i disse verkene.

De minner oss på at kunsthåndverk, om enn ikke slik det er definert som i dag, har eksistert veldig, veldig lenge. Vi er bare to mennesker, men vi er i besittelse av kunnskap som har blitt opparbeidet igjennom tusenvis av år, og har tilgang til store, smarte maskiner, som for bare kort tid siden var å regne som science fiction. Og alt dette i en verden som ser ut til å være på vei til kollaps - på den ene eller andre måten. Det hele er ganske overveldende.

Outi Martikainen (FI)

Outi Martikainen has her education from Vihti School for Applied Arts and Crafts and The University of Art and Design Helsinki (now The Aalto University), where she graduated from in 1999 with a master's degree. She says: "I was thrilled about weaving, the beautiful structures you can create with intersecting yarns, and how to appropriate the different structures to specific needs and appearances." However, after her graduation most of the Finnish textile industry had closed down or flagged out and she started working with SARC Architects designing prints on glass and concrete, amongst other things. Although she now spends most of her time working as an independent artist, she is still influenced by the large scale of the rooms she used to (and sometimes still does) work in.

Martikainen is a multifaceted artist. Her sensitive works contain both personal memories and subtle perceptions combined with unconventional use of materials. These elements go to create simplified entities that allow viewers to see the reality around them with new eyes.

About her work

I often find and work with new materials to bring weaving beyond traditional craft. I recently bought a Karelian table linen from a flee market in the Finnish countryside, handwoven, with Karelian red picking patterns along the cloth, size 200x90cm for 4€ - I thought: "holy shi... Is this really what handwoven pieces are worth to most poeple?"

On the other hand, with digital jacquard weaving, I find it challenging to add a narrative element that mixes well with the emblem weaving carries: home and familiarity, soft and pleasant.

By creating the woven material myself I get a unique expression. I mainly use mono-filament leftovers from a technical weaving manufacturer. I drive my car full of mono-filament yarns down from North-East Finland to a small entrepreneur near Helsinki where fibers are then braided to ropes according to my design. I have constructed a simple weave structure to give a maximum room for these ropes to create different shades of color.

I often portray landscapes. They give room for unexpected things to happen on the surface without the motive being ruined. I have admired renaissance tapestries and the golden and silver yarns woven into them, and how this has enlightened the room through reflecting the light from candle chandeliers.

In my experiments to weave light reflective yarn is braided into a rope with other fibers. As the viewer passes by the woven surface the reflective rope lights up and reflects back. Recently I have started to project video onto the pieces with reflective yarn. This creates a rhythmic movement in front of the woven piece, a feeling of time passing by.