By Lisa Torvik
Kari Sand Nikolaisen was the teacher of one of two weaving classes at Valdres Husflidsskule in Norway during the spring of 1974. She was my teacher. In one of our weekly theory classes she presented to the class her large rutevev, or geometrically patterned tapestry, also called an åkle. The same type of tapestry was used historically as bed covers, and this one has a pattern typical of the region of Hordaland. We discussed the techniques used to make such a piece.
Kari Sand Nikolaisen’s Hordaland weaving
Kari wove her rutevev in the fall of 1966 at the National Teachers College of Design [Statens Lærerskole i Forming]. She was in a half-year tapestry weaving course. She decided to weave a copy of a faded and tattered åkle that the school possessed, which was half the width of what she eventually wove. She analyzed the colors and the borders of the old piece to determine the design of her project. She plant dyed her yarn, which was purchased because time was too short to also spin the weft. The finished piece is 114 cm wide (45″) and 158 cm long (62″). She wove it on an upright loom and finished her project just in time for the Christmas holiday. I call this piece the second “generation.”
My classmate Amy and I were so taken with Kari’s åkle that we asked permission to copy the design. Kari went on maternity leave in the late spring and shortly after we went to her home and lay on her living room floor, copying her piece weft shot for weft shot on graph paper with colored pencils. Back at school, I taped all the sheets together into one long scroll. Amy left at the end of the term for another school and I went to work at the local museum as a guide for the summer. In the fall I continued in the weaving class as an “extra” student, with access to any free looms. Since the small Lauritz loom, a table loom on a stand with four shafts, was free, I thought it would be ideal. It was the right width to weave the Hordaland design in half-width, which was preferable for cost and weight reasons. (I had to take my work home to the States.) It also had a reed in a sliding track, which gave it a nice even beat. I had used this loom to create a large double weave in two matching pieces in the spring and liked working on it.
And so my version, the third “generation” came to be. It is woven of Hoelfeldt-Lund åklegarn in colors that matched Kari’s piece as closely as I could.
Hordaland Weaving by Lisa Torvik. Photo: Peter Lee
An impromptu display in the park shows the beautiful transparent quality of Lisa’s latest Hordaland iteration.
The summer of 2020 was challenging to the gallery world, but Norway House in Minneapolis was able to mount a long-planned show of textiles inspired by the Norwegian Baldishol tapestry. I contributed a piece to that show and had a significant amount of warp left over. What to do with the rest? Another opportunity was presented by an upcoming show in 2021 at Vesterheim museum in Decorah, Iowa, but time was too short to make their deadline. Nevertheless, I was inspired to tie up my loom again, weave the border designs of my Hordalandsteppe until I ran out of warp. And so, I have a fourth “generation.” Thanks to my wonderful year in weaving school and, especially, my wonderful teacher, Kari Sand Nikolaisen.
Hordaland patterns translated to a light and airy linen transparency by Lisa Torvik. Photo: Peter Lee
Postscript: In August of 1975, Kari Sand Nikolaisen became the principal of Gudbrandsdalens Husflidsskole in Lillehammer. It was a much larger school with two-year course offerings leading to qualification in occupational therapy, design, wood and metalworking. In 1996 the Husflidsskole was merged into Vargstad Vidergående or secondary school where she served as vice principal until her retirement in 2004. She served as leader of her local and regional handcraft associations and has served on a number of textile-related commissions.