The act of weaving has acquired since the very old times multiple meanings that made it a fascinating yet mysterious craft. The current saying “life hanging on a thread” hides a long history that dates back to the Greek mythology when this craft was conceived as a metaphor of human destiny. After thousands of years we have overcome the belief that three old ladies (the Fates) sharing one eye are weaving and cutting the threads of humans’ lives, but the intricate patterns and perfect twine still seem to hide untold stories of which one can only take a glimpse of.
Brit Fuglvaag is a contemporary Arachne (talented weaver from the Greek mythology) born in Kirkenes in 1939. After growing up in Trondheim, she attended The Norwegian National Arts and Crafts Schools in Oslo and the Academy of Arts in Warsaw. Brit debuted as a textile artist in 1965 during the Høstutstillingen (autumn exhibition) in Oslo when she was appreciated for her non-decorative motif and the variety of weaving techniques. From 12th September Brit returns to fascinate the public of this city at the Albin Upp gallery that had already hosted her works back in 2014. Today the artist works between Trondheim, Oslo and Paris.
Brit's carpets reproduce natural elements perceived individually or in groups: some represent a single flower, others flowery or grassy meadows, and others seem to zoom into a small portion of the latter. The artist is inspired by the light and sparkle of the colors of the landscape typical of northern Europe that the artist shields in her heart even when she is working abroad. The rapid change of weather conditions is, in fact, a feature of northern Norway where the artist grew up, in the region called Finnmark. Due to the changing landscape, the colors she uses are not limited to bright tones, useful to suggest a cheerful summer lawn, but also include shades of gray and black that reproduce the harshness of the arctic environment and climate. The perception of nature is not only conveyed by the visual element as Brit evokes the sense of touch through the combination of different weaving techniques. The surface is thus made dynamic and it is possible to identify the different materials, textures and thicknesses that recall now the softness of the fresh grass, now the roughness of a rocky hill.
The prevalence of the decorative element distances these works from the themes traditionally woven on Norwegian carpets that were predominantly narrative. Even after 1905, when Norway fought for independence from neighboring Sweden and weaving became a symbol of national identity, storytelling remained the red thread in this craft. Brit’s flowers, on the other hand, do not present such a will: sometimes they are identifiable as blue tulips and red poppies, other times, instead, they appear as simple spots of color. The flowers hide behind the figurative element a love for colors and geometry, hence an absolute absence of narration. Many of the works on display, in fact, are united by a woven grid of black or white color that overlaps with the subjects. The grid, not only emphasizes the virtuosity of the artist, but it also seems to suggest the existence of a perfect order, a geometric pattern that governs each flower, blade of grass, leaf and stalk. The geometry is highlighted in the carpet in which four flowers of different colors, pink, lilac, red and blue, are represented at equal distance from each other, occupying the entirety of the canvas by inserting themselves perfectly between the black squares.
Brit explores in her art the relationship between man and nature, moving her research between the physical, the psychological and the emotional sphere. Reproducing natural elements, the artist reproduces a universe of order, perfection and repetition, whose inexorability was associated in the past to this very craft. In the Greek world, in fact, the decisions taken by the three Fates weren’t questionable. Today when everything moves and changes fast, looking at Brit’s carpets takes us back to the pure feeling of the flowing of nature.