- Where are you from? I am Norwegian but currently based in Ibiza, Spain.
- Favourite city? Very hard to choose, but my current favorite city is Merida, Mexico
although it’s tied closely with Oaxaca, where I do a lot of my natural
dyeing.
- Favourite artist? Another one that’s hard to choose – if I can choose a female and a
male, it would be Hilma af Klint and Joan Miro, their work is so closely
tied to nature but they abstract it into their own visual language and I
find that very inspiring.
- Next place you want to visit? (when
this situation is over, of course) I’d really love
to visit Japan.
- Guilty pleasure? I couldn’t say I feel guilty because I enjoy them so immensely, but…
working in bed and tanning in the nude on one of Ibiza’s secret
beaches.
- Listening to music while dyeing: yes
or no? Absolutely yes!
- What is your favourite color for
dyeing? I love pinks and purples, they seem so
otherworldly.
- Where do you find inspiration to
create your colors palette? Always from
nature.
- First thing you dyed. The first thing I ever dyed I think was a cloth napkin, in my mum’s
kitchen, and it came out looking very ugly 🙂
- Favourite place to dye? I love dyeing in the garden with sunshine.
- Favourite fiber to dye? Animal fibres – silk and wool.
- Most special piece you’ve ever dyed. I think my most recent collaboration. I didn’t dye it personally but I collaborated with a traditional silk growing community in San Pedro Cajonos, who collect all their dye material, plants, flowers, barks and insects, from the Sierra Norte region of Oaxaca – we co-created the palette, and dyed 80 meters of silk in incredible natural dyed colors – they came out beautifully and the collaboration felt very sacred.
- What was the most difficult project you’ve ever made? It gets difficult when you start dyeing many meters of fabric and want to ensure that the fabrics have the same shades, or if you get very specific about what results you want.
- Do you usually get the result you want the first time you dye the piece? Or do you usually have to make it several times? I keep my personal dye practice experimental, so I keep an open mind and let myself be surprised- natural dyes have taught me this attitude and it helps endlessly.
- In one word: how would you describe yourself? Energetic
- Something you’d like our audience to know. I started natural dyeing as a way to get in touch with nature and to become more aware of the processes that go into making clothes – I ended up getting so deep into it that it’s hard to get out, as it’s such a magical way to alchemize from plant to color, it can be done with anything from food scraps to garden waste to foraged flowers or old bouquets and no color is more or less beautiful – they are all stunning. It’s a way to co-create with our environment, connect us with ancient history & local ecology, and most importantly have fun!!
