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About my work

Utah

    Utah, 2005, korsstygnsbroderi ullgarn (45×49 cm)

    Så spännande med geologiskt instabila platser där jordens inre kokar farligt nära den tunna jordskorpan. Kolliderande landmassor och potentiella katastrofzoner. Områden där kanske bara skallerormar och ödlor lever.

    En gång när vi var i Utah tog vi en båttur på floden för att titta på petroglyfer som indianer för länge sen skapat på klipporna. I närheten av det stup som Thelma och Louise kör rakt ut i evigheten från, (i filmen) hittade vi många sådana spännande ristningar och klippmålningar. Några var flera tusen år gamla. Det här broderiet är inspirerat av landskapet i västra USA.

    Petroglyferna och klippmålningarna är utförda i flera olika stilar där olika motiv och symboler använts vid olika perioder. Bilderna föreställer ofta människoliknande varelser som antyder shamanistiska och ceremoniella dimensioner. De kanske är heliga meddelanden. Även om man inte riktigt kan tolka deras budskap är de mycket rörande och fascinerande att betrakta där de uppenbarar sig i den karga och ödsliga naturen.

     

    Urgamla varelser på natten. Korsstygnsbroderi, ullgarn.2012

    Om man reser till Horseshoe Canyon i södra Utah kan man se klippmålningarna som inspirerat mig. Just de klippmålningarna är daterade till mellan 6 500 f kr och 500 år ekr.

    Det är ristat i sten och bilderna kanske kommer att finnas kvar för alltid. Det känns märkvärdigt att tänka på länken bakåt i tiden. Jag gillar själva tanken på att vissa saker är eviga eller i alla fall någorlunda beständiga.

    Peace in the valley, at last

      Peace in the valley, at last, 2008, (45 x 135 cm)

      Träden är svarta efter den stora branden. Men nya gröna skott skjuter upp ur marken. Växter som väntat länge på att få leva får nu äntligen komma till skott. Varelser betraktar den underbart pånyttfödda naturen. Bara en flock jättegetingar i luften oroar lite grann. Men de är visst på väg bort.

      Stellar´s Jay

        Stellers Jay, 2011

        We travelled east from Vancouver and made a rest stop somewhere along the Skagit River.

        On a restroom sign sat a beautiful turquoise blue bird. We looked at each other and the bird showed no signs of fear or shyness. He posed, put his head to the side and sometimes he ruffled up his black head feathers. He flew a couple of times very close above our heads and we were so taken by this funny little bird. We had no idea what kind it was. Now I know that it can be found here and there in the western parts of Canada and the United States. He was named after George W Steller who “discovered” it first.

        Like its fellow species the Steller´s Jay produces lots of different sounds, rattling sounds and guttural calls. When worried it calls a hoarse and nasal “Wah”. It is also a good imitator. When he imitates the Red tailed hawk other bird get scared and flies away. The Steller´s Jay can imitate car horns too. They might spook some motorist who thought he was alone on the road. Another sound of this bird is described as “skrieka, skrieka” wich happens to be the Swedish word for this kind of bird.

        On our way back to Vancouver we stopped at the same rest stop near the Skagit River. And there he was again, the wonderful little turquoise bird.

        Among the trees

          Among the trees, 2009

          Trees can be so very old. How beautiful they are, and so patient.

          Some of them still lives on after hundred, even thousands of years. They are so firmly rooted and in such a perfect harmony with  the sun, the mushrooms, the spores and the animals. (Not always with humans though, but that is not their fault.)

          Other trees  cling on to hopeless places. They bend and suffer and get diminished. But they might make it anyway. Some don´t.

          Newly discovered beings

            Newly discovered beings, 2010

            With insects, I guess you can both admire them and be fascinated by them. For me this is true as long as they keep to themselves. When they crawl on me, snap at me or try to suck my blood I don´t like them so much anymore. Strangely, there are exceptions. It´s totally ok to have a marybug crawling up my arm and I would never harm one. Other beetles with different colored dots have to leave me alone. My heart bleeds for the poor bumble bee who is stuck on his back. So helpless he seems.  But a wasp I can easily kill with my electrical bug-racket. I get the feeling he wants to hurt me.

            There are insects that when you kill them just turns to dust. I feel sorry for them.

            Life at the bottom

              Life at the bottom, 2007

              Life at the bottom don´t have to be that bad. But you must learn how to swim of course.

              Life and death

                Life and death, 2008

                No place on earth can resist life, it seems. Life adapts, takes new forms and clings on to every imaginable place. In the sea, on the ground and in the sky.  In the center of this embroidery rests a human fetus, enclosed in its waiting to be born. The unborn baby´s umbilical cord reaches outside this embroidery.

                In the sea

                  In the sea, 2007

                  From the primeval sea we emerged. Sediments of the sea bottom grew on top of each other. We are the sum of our ancestors. In my primeval sea sperms, lizards and fish-riders lives side by side. Out of the clams shell a very surprised prehistoric relative takes a peep at the world.

                  Red Canyon – a very strange and beautiful place

                    Red Canyon, 2011

                    The ground moved some sixty million years ago an so the Wind River mountain range and Red Canyon was formed.

                    If you want to see it, drive 24 miles south of Lander, Wyoming. The area is bordering Wind river indian reservation where Shoshones and Arapahoes live today.

                    Some places in the world are nice , some even beautiful.  But some places has magic and they make you feel wonder and awe. A feeling of  joy to be part of it all.  Red Canyon is just such a place for me.

                    It is a desolate place with dirt roads, ghost towns and memories of once booming goldmines.

                    There is evidence of over 10 000 years of human presence here. Nearby you can see prehistoric pictographs and petroglyphs almost 6 000 years old. Messages from ancient times and ancient peoples. The meaning of these strange artworks is lost to us now. It was a wonderful sight for us , when we visited. And perhaps also for the rattlesnakes who had made this site their home.

                    From Red Canyon the Red Canyon creek feeds into the Popo Agie river. This river is a mystery. The waters rush down to suddenly disappear right in front of your eyes into a dark cave at the bottom of a cliff. So- the river disappears only to reappear again some hundred meters down in to a big dark pool. The river is, apparently, inside the mountain, rushing through invisible channels for miles and miles. If you would put a big red ball in the river as it enters the cave, you would have to wait for two hours before it can be seen again as the waters reach the cave exit.

                    Strange place…

                    A peaceful river

                      A peaceful river, 2008

                      A whole bunch of capybaras finds themselves on a floating island in the big, quiet river. In the forest, strange beings are doing strange things. But it´s all right, don´t worry! Two responsible wolfs makes sure nothing bad happens. And the aspen trees with their black eyes see everything.