Let me show you how beautiful it is
Take care of the hand made. Care of the textiles. I make designs using an ancient Japanese method, Katazome. It is to dye with indigo resisted with rice paste applied through detailed hand cut stencils.
In this exhibition I show my work of upgrading the value of textiles. Miscellaneous pieces of cotton, linen and hemp, second hand, vintage left-over textiles. Once handmade, perhaps even hand spun fiber, preciously made, well kept, worn and loved, and now in the secondhand dump box. The old linen often gives very beautiful results in the indigo vat. Sometimes I repeat the dye process with another stencil on top pf the previous, thus creating a subtle double layered effect of the design. The dyed pieces with layers of indigo blue, botanical patterns turn into beautiful pieces that are no longer throw-away-able. I use the dyed pieces as they are or as parts of larger collages, to mount into wall hangings, or I sew small precious items from them.
Lena Palenius. I am since childhood self-taught in the wide field of textiles, plus I have landscape architect master’s degree. At heart I am an artist, I work by hand and freehanded. My work is mainly textile but also other, such as drawing, painting, pottery, and garden. In this exhibition I show my indigo work. I am an artist working in my own studio. My patterns are botanical, and with a subtle mix between sharpness of details and flowy perception and dreamy worlds.
In 2014 I spent time in Japan and learned about the Japanese ancient ways of making beautiful textiles. In Japan I met an attention given to intricate details, and the very time-consuming work leading up to the finished textile product. When I give my time and put effort into making a piece of fabric, I get the same sense of preciousness. I will be very careful of it, reluctant to cutting it or throwing it away. The care given in the handmade process makes the finished piece precious.
My textile roots are in the south of Sweden, Skåne. It has a rich colorful textile history of wool and linen/flax, of embroidery, weaving, spinning, knitting and sewing. My early memories contain outdoor play and daydream at favorite nature sites, observing color, shapes and structures. Feeling sand running through my fingers or wet morning grass on my toes, sensing honeysuckle and the flavor of blackberries. Memories also contain watercolor painting trying to reach the next nuance of color, understanding color mix, and of course textiles!
