We are extremely proud to present this year’s graduating students from the master’s programme Textile in the Expanded Field.

Through seminars, discussions, experimental theoretical and practical formulations, as well as various publication formats, the students have spent two years deepening their practices within the textiles field. Many of this year’s projects have sprung from social practices, in which questions regarding identity, interpretation rights and moral courage are considered in the meeting with people in different contexts and using different methods. This year’s master’s students show the multifaceted possibilities of the textiles field: from investigations of the actual material as a visual catalyst, to its political potential and communicative possibilities.

Textiles are a constant presence in our everyday lives and history as the link between our skin and the world, as a status symbol, as a class marker and struggle, as a material of desire and lust, and as a surface for economic transactions. The close relationship between humans and textiles makes investigations within this area continually current and relevant, and it is difficult, near impossible, to imagine a human world without the presence of textiles.

The Konstfack Degree Exhibition is the start of these students’ professional lives, and the meeting with the audience forms an important foundation for their future practices.

We present:

Linnea Blomgren, whose work focuses on the acoustic environment. With her long experience in working with woven objects, she approaches the acoustics of a room, and the growing need to create spaces within it dedicated to concentrated work. Using the weave as a point of departure, Linnea Blomgren creates contemporary sound absorbents, in which aesthetics and function interact.

Chamaikarn Chartsiri uses traditional techniques to tie fishnets, and creates contemporary furniture to sit on, which tells the story of fishermen and dying handicraft techniques. Her story begins in a Thai fishing village, and moves through the world to Swedish fishermen and fishnet techniques, and to conceptual design, where she finally gives a new framework to the Swedish “fika” [coffee and cake].

Sofie Rykowski works with site-specific performances, which is based on text materials with textiles as a common theme. Her work explores questions of moral, collective and individual responsibility, based in Shakespeare as well as sociology. The lines between participation and audience, and the artist’s role and relation to the composition of the group are central themes.

Sara-Lo Serra wishes to honour and raise the view of female genitals through a work that combines various contemporary and historical rituals with textile sculptures and scenographic possibilities. Her work takes the participant on a journey through the history of the female sex in different times and countries.

Emilie Steele uses the contemporary and historical views of mental illness to create sculptural works, investigating the fear of touching those who are “sick”. Her works challenge the boundary between what is beautiful and what is frightening, taking their point of departure from Japanese anime, fashion and sculpting techniques.

Mi Tjio uses the scarf as a starting point of an investigation of hybrid identities and prejudice. Using contemporary information channels, such as YouTube, she explores what connotations different ways of tying the same scarf can have.

Maria Westmar works with installations that challenge our vision. Everyday objects found at random meet objects created with precision, their common properties being movement and reformation. The objects often have their origin in manufacturing and industrial production.

Welcome!

Bella Rune, Professor of Textiles
Katarina Sjögren, Guest Lecturer