Artist statement

The works of Isabel Berglund unfold as sculptural objects subjugated to an intimate investigation of material, color, and space. Berglund’s preferred media is the handknitted yarn which she varies and processes with a focus on the material’s aesthetic and tactile qualities. By connecting the knitting of untraditional materials with found objects, she creates a dislocation between the timely object, the historic craft, and the timeless choice of material. Berglund’s works appear fluent in form; whether the knitting is presented alone or as an organic elongation of found objects, the works contain several elements and layers that slowly develop in the gaze of the viewer. The textile empathizes Berglund’s use of color and the creation of space. Often, she works with a simple color scheme that brings forward the surface and accentuates shape and density. With small spaces in between the masks, she gives attention to tactile qualities and details. The knitting appears strong and energetic, often with loose ends fluttering in all directions. Berglund’s works appear as animated objects who are brought to life through organic expressions and processed shapes. A dialogue is played out. Berglund assigns titles to her works which become an entrance to a large, conceptual universe. This indicates that during the process of creating, she lets herself get carried away by the materials she works with. The sensibility of the thread contains a presence of interaction; process, time, and hand are present in the work.

Berglund is interested in how different identities concretely materialize in her work and therefore she has several times invited others to take part in the craftmanship of the creation. In these circumstances, the works have been thought and created by the artist but affected by the collaboration. Thus, the process is at the same time controlled and open. It is both Berglund’s own and a piece of relational aesthetic that testifies to the fact that Berglund’s works not only are form, content, and expression but also a social insight and a human imprint of recognition, co-ownership, and potential of change.  

Berglund’s choice of media is both recognizable and decodable but her work with the yarn explores the medium’s potentials and limitations in the artistic context. She embraces and challenges well-known shapes and objects and constantly shifts between the abstract and concrete. New rhythms in the recognizable objects appear, and she challenges the form and function which are otherwise clear. In this way, her works divert the traditions that the medium refers to and the result is a new sensibility towards how those objects and materials that people surround themselves and identify with again can be understood and reinterpreted.

Isabel Berglund lives and works in Copenhagen. She has an MA degree in Fashion Knitwear from Central Saint Martins College of Fashion and Textile, London (1997-2000). Furthermore, she has a BA in textile from The Royal Academy of Arts’ School of Design (1994-1997). In 2018, she received the Three-year work grant from The Danish Arts Foundation. Her work has been exhibited at museums, art institutions, and galleries in Europe, Asia, the US, and in her home country Denmark. Isabel Berglund is represented by Galleri Specta, Copenhagen.