Viking Jupiter Art Collection

HAIR SALON | DECK 1

HAIR SALON | DECK 1 INGRID AARSET 1958 • NORWAY • LAYERS OF DACRON TEXTILES Norwegian textile artist Ingrid Aarset is known for her deep understanding of her materials and the inherent possibilities she sees in them. She draws patterns by hand, digitizes them and then laser-cuts them from the chosen textiles, a relatively new technique within the field. Although Aarset’s considerable experience with textiles and knowledge of digital techniques are essential to her development of ideas, it is the curiosity and excitement of the search for the unknown that drives her work. Aarset’s fascination with textiles developed early in her childhood. She has asserted that it was a female, maternal influence who introduced her to textile work for its calming effect, to help counteract her restlessness and impatience. It was a way to transform the useless into the useful, while at the same time satisfying a need to beautify and escape. Developing patterns and ornamentation is a slow occupation for Aarset. She always begins her artistic process with playful research on paper. The emerging patterns are then applied to the right kind of material, chosen to further develop and enhance the character of the motif and provide it with the desired tactility. The softness that is typical of the medium seems absent in Aarset’s work and her choice of materials suggests a number of other qualities. In recent years, Aarset has received considerable attention and recognition for her interpretations of textiles in medieval and Renaissance paintings. The historic painters of which were influenced by the Asian motifs that flooded Europe at the time, and just as Aarset does with her projects, they developed their patterns and ornamentation according to their own contemporary culture and its technological capacity. Aarset’s series consists of monumental textiles, often assembled by several layers, made with laser cutters. 72

GRADATIONS | 2013