By Robbie LaFleur

The artists in the upcoming exhibition, “The Baldishol: A Medieval Tapestry Inspires Contemporary Textiles,” have remarkably varied responses to the inspirational tapestry. They have taken elements of design, color, materials, and story into their own fiber art practices.

Jonna Gjevre pulled in diverse Scandinavian references when planning her Baldishol piece, “An Eye on the Past.” Four birds appear in the original tapestry: three facing forward, and one back. In Jonna’s cushion cover, she uses Norwegian stranded knitting technique to depict four sheep; again, three facing forward, and one turned away. The horned sheep designs are adapted from traditional Icelandic lopapeysa designs. The groups of colored dots around the sheep reference the background in the tapestry. She used natural dyes made from madder, indigo, chamisa, and cota (Navajo tea), echoing the historic dyes used in the tapestry.

Studying the Norwegian tapestry led Jonna to more Norwegian research. Tapestry designs in Gerhard Munthe: Norwegian Pioneer of Modernism sparked background ideas.  She was looking at a collection of mitten patterns from Selbu—selbuvotter—and found a design that echos the wave-like border of the Baldishol. 

Though she grew up in Minnesota, her current home in New Mexico has a strong influence on her work in fiber. The Baldishol and tapestries woven in Medieval Norway used lustrous yarn spun from indigenous spelsau sheep. The breed became nearly extinct, but was revived through conservation efforts. The yarn Jonna used in “Eye on the Past,” 100% Navajo-Churro wool from northern New Mexico, came from an old sheep variety, too. She wrote,  

Having grown up on a sheep farm in northern Minnesota, I’ve long had an interest in the societal significance of wool production and textile arts. In this piece, I’m using naturally dyed wool from Navajo-Churro sheep. Due to culturally imperialistic government interference between 1860 and 1930, this rare, desert-hardy breed was slaughtered in great numbers and nearly rendered extinct. Through the efforts of a few dedicated Diné (Navajo) shepherds and other conservationists, these sheep—deeply significant to Native American communities in the southwest—were saved. The Navajo-Churro Sheep Association was formed in 1986, its aim to protect this rare breed from becoming a memory. 

During her research, Jonna turned up a reference to the Baldishol in another medium, Norwegian postage stamps.

Jonna’s lifelong passion for fiber arts started on a sheep farm in Minnesota, and grew to include a passion for words. With a PhD from the University of Wisconsin, she has taught creative writing in Scotland and film studies in the United States. She wrote a textile-themed novel, Arcanos Unraveled. Perhaps Jonna could take up another homage to the Baldishol Tapestry? A Medieval knight on a dappled horse–there could be a novel there! 

Website: jonnagjevre.com