Artist statement by Hanne Friis

The interplay between form and materiality lies at the heart of my artistic practice, where sensibility, and the language of color play a vital role. While my background includes sculpture and painting, I have embraced textile as my primary medium. Through a distinctive folding and seaming technique, I sculpt textiles by hand using a needle and nylon thread, transforming loose materials into dense forms. This time-consuming process allows me to enter a ‘stream of consciousness’, where thoughts and energies flow between the material and myself. The resulting organic, abstract shapes are intricate and associative, forming what I call soft sculptures.
 
I work with both organic and synthetic materials, from wool, cotton, silk velvet, and viscose to plastics. Some pieces are made with natural-dyed textiles, creating muted tones, while other textiles are dyed with synthetic pigments in vibrant colours. The transformation of textile - from flexible surface to dense, sculptural form - creates a material ambiguity that intrigues me. The spiral shapes, craters, folds and protrusions in my sculptures suggest connections to internal and external elements of our bodies, nature, and geology, viewed from a micro and macro perspective.

In recent years, I have worked on two series titled Map and Landscape, where surplus textiles from the clothing industry are repurposed. Colourful wool and silk scarves with patterns are deconstructed and reassembled into sculptures with curves and colourfields, similar to maps or landscapes. These works, in contrast to my monochrome sculptures that emphasize form and surface, have a painterly quality, reminiscent of expressionist paintings.
 
Common to all my works is their potential for growth and transformation, suggesting a loss of control in the process. I aim for my sculptures to evoke multiple layers of interpretation, inviting free associations through the senses, balancing between beauty and unease.