Home Mask Relations: A Social Art Project by Isabel Berglund

Press Release
Guest Curator: Elizabeth Kozlowski

Schmidt Center Gallery: November 4, 2017 - January 20, 2018
Opening: 6:30pm, Friday, November 3, 2017

Associated University Galleries' Webpages

Knit & Stitch Together Workshops
Two Artist Talks by Isabel Berglund

Home Mask Relations: A Social Art Project by Danish Textile Artist Isabel Berglund draws meaningful, individual connections through the actions of craft to the ways that domestic space is claimed and delineated in the US. The American realities of rural decline, urban sprawl, and the history of land appropriation inform Berglund’s project. Berglund completed three residencies and month-long workshops in Phoenix, Arizona; Boca Raton, Florida; and Bloomington, Indiana engaging participants in conversations about their notions of home while knitting floor plans together.

This participatory art project and resulting installation explores the social spaces of “togetherness”, “relationships” and “home”. Individual hand-knitted floor plans unique to each state join together with thread. The completed artwork memorializes the project and the physical traces left behind by all the participants, thus becoming a record of their personal stories. Berglund’s intent is to further break down socioeconomic and political barriers in the United Stated and in turn, build relationships between people of different backgrounds – using the practice of knitting as a guide.

Isabel Berglund and the “Knitting Together” workshops enlisted the help of 500+ participants aged 8-95. Beginner friendly patterns with a few parameters including color and size were provided by the artist. Participants met at the workshops and knitted side by side – creating a natural bond through the process of making that extends to all participants in a collective experience. The sharing of patterns, techniques, individual stories and the artist’s transformation of these components into a massive collage add a new thread to the history of craft and textile arts.

Images:(Clockwise from top left) Proposed model of completed collaborated piece; Volunteers knitting at workshop; Volunteers knitting at workshop at Arizona State University; Monument of Stitches - A Social Art Project, installation view.