SURVIVAL GEAR

Artwork is made during my stay at the artist residency in Kökar, Ålands archipelago, Finland. Local history museum was displaying old everyday objects that people on the islands had used to survive in the harsh climate. I found beautiful old distaffs (“rockblad/fiberfäste” in swedish) inspiring. I felt that the distaffs contributed to people’s survival; they were able to make yarn and afterwards weave fabrics and make clothes to stay warm. The motif and color scale on the artwork is inspired by the landscape. In this way, the old lifestyle is merged with the surrounding nature; the landscape is reflected from the surface of the rock blade.

I also find it interesting to think that if you were to give this “survival gear” to people nowadays, there would probably not be many who would be able to survive.

Artwork is approx. 25 cm * 60 cm