By Elizabeth Hunter
Exhibit: Elizabeth Hunter, RYA RUGS……COMING OF AGE
Scandinavian Cultural Center and Library
206 Waltham Street, Newton, Massachusetts
March 1 – May 15, 2024
Rya rugs date from medieval times and have been used by mariners against the frigid cold at sea; in carriages; as bedding; and as a signature of the mid-century Scandinavian modern era. Here they are used for social comment…they are coming of age.
Works included in the exhibit
The Seasons They Go Round and Round. Four large pillows with a circle representing a season. It is accompanied by the lyrics to Joni Mitchell’s song, “Circle Game.” This was my first try at rya technique, which I learned in Landskrona, Sweden. I wanted the design to have the simplicity of the circle. I loved the color blending that was possible with my collection of vintage Danish CUM yarns. But as I wove things changed. The song “Circle Game” came to mind and I couldn’t get it out of my mind. The pillows changed from being decorative household items — they went from circles, to seasons, to the passage of time — and to talking about aging. Kerry Lavin, Executive Director of the Scandinavian Cultural Center & Library, has added a QR code so visitors can listen to Mitchell’s song. (These pillows were devils to get into the sewing machine to put them together!)
Elizabeth Hunter. The Seasons They Go Round and Round
In and Out of Clarity. This piece, moving from left to right, represents a thought getting a bit foggy over time….changing…as it goes from blues to greens. I used the longer white linen threads to create fog. I didn’t feel this piece was as successful because it is dependent on explanation, but it was an idea that stewed for a long time and just had to get out. It was woven with Danish CUM yarns.
Elizabeth Hunter. In and Out of Clarity.
Open to Change. I was talking with my neighbor days before the excruciatingly tense 2020 election. I said something about “open to change.” She looked at me and said that when she went to Berkeley Law School, there were 300 men and 3 women and they were divided into three classes with the ratio 100 to 1. And that she was the first female prosecutor for the City of San Francisco and Kamala Harris was the first black, female prosecutor for the City of San Francisco. So, this is Open to Change. It uses Danish CUM and Swedish Berga yarns.
Elizabeth Hunter. “Open to Change”
On Climate Change, a series of three rugs. Glaciers Melting was woven with Icelandic Lopi yarn; Deforestation used Norwegian spelsau wool; and Volcano Breaking the Earth was made with Danish CUM and Swedish Berga yarns. The three speak for themselves. Deforestation is my favorite.
Elizabeth Hunter. “Glaciers Melting,” “Deforestation,” and “Volcano Breaking the Earth.”
Wisdom of the Crone. This set is a rug hooked piece and a rya. In youth-oriented society where anything new is prized, the crone celebrates the patina which come with time and experience. The wisdom of the crone comes from learning life lessons — judgment and compassion. She balances light and dark and even life and death. The crone is selfless, yet loves herself. She is all-knowing yet questioning. She is kind, but can be blunt and harsh when needed…and a bit quirky. This is my first hooked rug and my first time drawing a face. They use wool strips, Icelandic Lopi, Danish CUM and Swedish Berga yarns.
Elizabeth Hunter. “Crone One”
Elizabeth Hunter. Crone Two
Eight of my pastels and twelve watercolors are featured in addition to the ryas. Also, the director has set up a video from Finland (in English) describing the history of the rya tradition, “Woven Beauty – Four centuries of Finnish ryijy textiles.”
The exhibit is up through May 15, 2024. Watch for future textile-related exhibits at the Scandinavian Cultural Center, including one on bunads. The Center has a growing collection of donated bunads.
Elizabeth Hunter is an artist from Kennabunk, Maine. She started floor loom weaving in high school, traveling from her home in Stamford, CT, to Klara Cherepov, a designer for Bergdorf Goodman who lived in nearby Greenwich. In the mid 1970s she spent six months at Friundervisnings Tegne og Vevstue in Oslo, Norway. She also studied in Reykjavik, Iceland, and Torshavn, Faroe Islands.
March 2024
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