By Inka Kavalo

I weave tapestries, and sometimes create animal and human shaped sculptures. For my own pleasure, I weave scarfs with plant dyed or undyed yarn. I embroider large necklaces, often adding silver or other metals. In other words; I weave, embroider, knit, appliqué and stitch. 

I am inspired by traditional textiles: the materials, fine technical properties and aesthetics. Weaving is affected by the rigidity of the loom, which one has to overcome. That is why ethnic textiles are often so spectacular, as they allow imagination to be unleashed.

My two hundred year old loom, made of the roots of spruce trees, is like a sculpture. The techniques I use are age-old; through my techniques and materials I preserve old traditions. I preserve and reform. This is how I justify my work to myself.

I enjoy making handicrafts, and became a textile artist because the blaze of colors is softer in textiles. I try to make life more beautiful.

Weaving requires you to put your heart into it, and it demands patience. It is also a manifestation of playfulness and joy, as the technical act of weaving is not substantial; vision is. I am my own handwriting. I reflect myself and then start the work.

I feel attracted to materials, because I need them, and they dictate the nature of what can be done.

Everything starts from a thread. I create a new yarn from multiple fine threads. Amidst thin cotton or silk threads there might be a golden thread, or an inherited one. I collect threads and yarns. One of my works is named after a poem by Kirsti Simonsuuri called “Väreilee kuin lanka” (“Ripples like a thread”).

My woven artworks are like windows to colorful worlds. They do not express anything straightforwardly, they just hint at the right direction, unveiling the atmosphere.

To inspire my work, I often choose a palette of new and fascinating color tones. I might think – should I use the golden colors of Lassila’s farm rooster? Should I use the purples of a thunderstorm? 

The weave itself is the theme of my work. I work with a simple plain weave by manipulating it. Afterwards I might appliqué or stitch the fabric with some surplus material. I do it in such a manner that the end result will be vaguely spontaneous-looking and richer, and that the slow work process would lead to a liberating finale.

I often use a framework theme; in a way I look inwards and outwards. It is, on one hand, about the feeling of safety, framing and human edges, but then, the patterns can also float on the surface, respecting no boundaries.

Once in a while I make sculptures. Initially they were elephants, sheep, and horses; later I made stylized human figures and heads. The role of my sculptures has always been the role of being an audience in the exhibition hall. 

Recently I added embroidery to my sculptures. With embroidery the textile sculptures become more about the surface than just their form. It is possible to embroider layers upon layers on top of the surface.

When I was young I used to paint and take part in exhibitions for young artists. I felt like I was a painter. That was the background for my textile print designs. My drafts were painted in a factory hall on a finished fabric, so they were easy to put on display in planning meetings.

Printed textiles were my material in numerous museum exhibitions in the late 1980s. I built installations by sewing fabrics together and framing them. I created walls, houses, projections of windows and doors, a labyrinth of mirrors and edges; with names like Hotel Giorno; House and Garden;  and The Sun Was Shining, If I Remember Correctly… 

I began to make scarves and necklaces, at first only for myself. Scarves are more than just scarves. They are a study of the rhythm of stripes, colors and hues. My scarves feature braided trimmings and a thin stripe which continues over the edges as a braid. I use Finnish plant-dyed or natural sheep wool. 

At first I knitted scarves from natural thread, like the darker shades of black and grey sheep wool. I aimed for an architectural and ethnic character. Later I met an artisan at a marketplace who was selling plant-dyed yarn that was dyed in a creative manner, with blurred hues and multiple dyes. What a blissful feeling when you find an inspirational material!

There is a curious feature when embroidering necklaces; I get away from the stillness of the loom to the fluidity of necklace making. The most important tools for embroidering are rather simple: a thread, a needle, a fabric, and possibly, a small, round embroidery hoop. My necklaces always become quite large, because the size is relative to the way I sew.

A tapestry, a sculpture, a fabric installation, a scarf or a necklace—each one is a mirror into the world I see, feel, and experience. 

See more of Inka Kival’s unique tapestry work here.
2022

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