By Mandy Pedigo

In the early months of 2020, I researched art exhibitions in Finland that would coincide with my travels there in May. I was thrilled to discover that I would get to see an exciting exhibition at the Craft Museum of Finland in Jyväskylä.

The exhibition, Woven Image, was an exhibition of four Finnish artists: Soile Hovila, Ariadna Donner, Aino Kajaniemi and Inka Kivalo. It was the first exhibition of its kind in Finland. The pandemic made the trip impossible, and I could only look at the work online. Despite the limitation presented by the mediation of the computer, the work of Soile Hovila left me stunned and deeply moved. 

I first noticed the soft atmospheric light. Hovila crafts her natural light in a convincing way that made me forget that I was looking at an artwork. It invokes the feeling of being pulled into the environment and noticing what the artist is directing our attention towards. Though some might be tempted to call Hovila’s compositions painterly, they are unmistakably textile, an important distinction. There is a presence to them that comes through, even despite the mediation of photo image and computer. 

Among the works featured, many are from her World of Contrasts series where human-created environments shift into nature scenes. Themes include the importance of the natural world along with human impacts of deforestation, population density and loss. Amongst the buildings and clutter of human life, the forest emerges as a holy place, an invitation to reorient and to remember. The light of the sun pierces through to further invite the viewer into the composition.

Now a fan of Hovila’s work, I wanted to know more about her and the way she works. I recently asked her for some time to answer some of my questions about her work. She was very generous in her answers. I think it may be time to get that Finland trip planned again!

Q: You learned tapestry while in school, correct? What was your school experience like? Do you feel that it prepared you for being an artist?

I specialized in tapestry after graduating as a textile artist from the University of Art and Design Helsinki (Aalto University) in 2002. I had only a really short course of tapestry technique in the Textile Art department, so I have mostly learned by myself through challenging subjects: I wove flowing water and rock surfaces as well as portraits.

There isn’t any teaching tradition of tapestry weaving in Finland, so our tapestry artists are self-educated. There have been only a few of us, no groups or associations. Instead, our country is famous for its rich tradition of woollen rya rugs. Finnish textile artists have also used double weave and transparent techniques for woven patterns.

I learned to appreciate and use the means of expression of textile art during my university years. My love for the richness of color tones deepened and I learned about the diversity of materials. Tapestry artist Inka Kivalo taught me one short course at the University, but it was about jacquard weaving. But it has meant a lot that she gave me a two metres wide high warp loom as a gift. I have always admired her abstract works, the use of colour and interesting texture. I did not learn complex fabric structures and I´m not interested in them. That’s why tapestry technique suits me well. I want to focus on thinking about colours and image structure. During school, I also developed my drawing skills, as I have drawn and painted since I was five years old and started at Art school for Children in Joensuu (my hometown). I think good drawing skills are very important for tapestry artists.

I want to mention one Finnish tapestry artist from history. Eva Anttila (1894 -1993) had a really long career and she also taught weaving from 1926-28. I have studied Eva Anttila´s writings about tapestry art and tried to learn her way to make tapestries. I´m really interested in the unwritten history of Finnish tapestry art.

Q: How do you begin to design a tapestry? Do you work from a cartoon, drawing or do you respond to the work as you weave?

I design my work by combining photos, but without computer programs. At first, I sketch a tiny image, so that I can see the main lines and contrasts in the picture. Then I make a small sketch, because I want to make expressive choices with yarns and during the weaving process. When the sketch is ready enough, I draw outlines to the right size of thin paper. Then I draw it again from the opposite side because I need a mirror image. 

This cartoon is behind the warp, to help me to weave. I look at the photos closely when I draw and color the cartoon. I have noticed that when I weave, I don´t go back to photos that often anymore. I find it creepy to even think about printing a photo behind the warp.

Have you worked in other art areas?

I made silk paintings, I painted a live model on wet silk. This technique required speed and intensive work, so it is the opposite of the tapestry technique that requires patience. I have also done watercolours and woodcuts, with portraits and landscapes as subjects. I am also an art educator and art historian by profession. I teach children at a local art school, and I have done research on the history of textile art. I have also designed some carpets and made a community art project with handicapped people.

Q: What is the inspiration? In making art, there are many ways of working that can express an idea or the content. How does the materials and process of weaving inspire you?

Tapestry weaving combines perfectly making pictures and using textile materials. I get the strongest inspiration when I combine different yarns and look for just the right color shade and put together color gradients from dark to light or from one color to another.

Inspiration for weaving that requires hard work can sometimes come from outside as well: When I’ve found a good audio book to accompany me, I can continue weaving for longer.

Q: Can you talk about how you problem solve through the stages of work?

I usually plan the work quite well, but there are always points that have been overlooked in the cartoon. At first, I try to figure out how to weave by looking at photos on the computer. If that doesn’t work, I stop weaving, remove the work drawing and move the loom to see the work from the right side. I will draw the cartoon in more detail.

Q: Your tapestries depict sunlight so effectively and emotionally. How did you develop this? How has it changed over time?

The central role of light in my works started when I was looking for a subject that would combine nature subjects and abstract expression, color transitions. There is a huge amount of detail in nature, and I wanted to simplify the task of weaving, which is based on photographs. I ended up studying the rays of light that the fog brings out. Nowadays, I no longer want to design an image without focusing on light.

For the next two years, I will try to renew my perspective thanks to a grant from the Finnish Cultural Foundation. I´ll also include the shadows brought by the light and explore whether the characteristics of a moving image can be brought into slow weaving. For example, the flicker of light in the foliage of a tree fascinates me. But I think: maybe it’s too demanding and a waste of time. With Jacquard technology, this motif is already woven. So I keep thinking… I am no longer interested in designing only aesthetic, beautiful pictures. I want to tell stories and comment, especially the alarming state of the environment.

Q: Your warp shows through on your tapestries, which isn’t done in classic tapestries in other parts of Europe. It feels transgressive and necessary and an invitation to look deeper into your fabric. Is the revealing of the warp important to you?

Yes, it’s really important. I let the warp be visible under wefts, even if mostly tapestry weavers think that it should be fully covered by the weft. In this way, undyed linen warp combines color shades and creates a certain soft, muted tune. Today’s tapestry artists use many different surface structures and materials of different thicknesses, but I have a goal of photo-likeness, which prevents using them. However, a flat, tightly woven monochrome surface looks often dead to me. The visible warp emphasizes the three-dimensional structure of the fabric, thanks to which the color is built from the light and shadow side of the yarn.

Q: What do you hope your tapestry invokes in the viewer?

I hope that the viewer of my tapestry stops and calms down to look at it. I have spent a lot of time making the work, so I hope the viewer will do the same. The best feedback is when the viewer is moved/sensitized and thinks about the content of the work.

Q: What role does tapestry/textile art play in contemporary art?

Finnish textile artists are proud of means of expression of textile materials and techniques. Art that can be fully defined as contemporary art is made here, but it is presented in the field of textile art. Is it modesty? However, it would be easier to get appreciation with the title of art than art craft. Nowadays, when visual artists use textile techniques, it raises the status of textile art at the same time.

Tapestry art plays a very small role in Finland, as there are only a few tapestry artists. When I invited Ariadna Donner, Inka Kivalo and Aino Kajaniemi to hold an exhibition with me, one of my goals was to make our technique better known and attract new weavers. Some artists who still make small tapestries are developing. But faster jacquard or tufting techniques easily take many of them away from slow hand weaving. And it’s no wonder, because jacquard textiles have gained a lot of space in the exhibitions of Finnish art museums in recent years.

Q: Finnish textiles aren’t well known outside of Finland except for ryijy (rya rugs). Why do you think?

Ryijy plays a central role in the field of Finnish textile art, too.

I haven’t read any research about how well-known or unknown Finnish textile artists are. So, I can only speculate. In Finland, an artist gets appreciation and becomes known by succeeding abroad. The most famous Finnish textile artists are those who received awards at World Exhibitions in the 1920s-50s. In Finland, the work of contemporary textile artists is not supported, as it is in Norway, for example. Nowadays, less and less textile art is commissioned for public spaces.

Q: I saw online that you recently finished a tapestry and have begun a new one. Can you tell me about it?

My latest work is named Ataraxia. I started it in the spring of 2020 and completed it at the beginning of this year. It is an exceptionally large,  an 11 square meter tapestry triptych. Working on this scale was a new challenge for me, with which I feel I am joining the historical chain of tapestry artists. The design of Ataraxia coincided with a stressful time, when residents of big cities were urged to stay in their homes due to the corona pandemic. I felt a great privilege when I got to enjoy Finnish nature. With my work, I emphasize the importance of nature in the pursuit of inner peace.

So, I got to design a new work after a long break. Ataraxia took three years to weave, and I won’t plan a new one until the previous one is finished. I am now weaving a piece with a bird taking flight over water colored by the sunset. This bird species has become rare due to the felling of old forests.

Q: Where can people see your work and find out more about you? What is next for you?

I have a website http://www.soilehovila.net and I also update my Facebook and Instagram accounts, which can be found under my name.

I have a solo exhibition in August-September 2023 at Galleria A2 in Helsinki. In addition, Weavers of Vision – four perspectives on modern Finnish tapestry will open in the Rovaniemi Art Museum in November 2023 and remain open until February 25, 2024. We are also planning to organize a tapestry seminar at the University of Lapland. After that, I will focus on the Kouvola Art Museum exhibition. It is set for 2026.

I´ll offer my works to international textile art exhibitions, too. My work was selected to the ARTAPESTRY6 exhibition on the fourth attempt, so the goal took ten years. I hope that my work will be accepted again someday, because it is important to be part of the community of one’s special profession.

Mandy Pedigo is an artist and writer living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She researches and writes about textiles and their history. An article about her research of Finnish designer Maija Kolsi-Mäkelä appeared in Surface Design Journal, Spring 2020. mandypedigo.com

Help support wonderful articles on Scandinavian textiles with a donation to the Norwegian Textile Letter. Thank you! Tusen takk! 

April 2023