Hanne Friis (b. 1972) is internationally known for her important textile sculptures, created by hand using a personal folding and sewing technique. Dense layers of folded fabric transform the material into a compressed mass that unfolds sculpturally in space. These abstract forms draw on an imaginary world ranging from the body to nature. “I have been working with the same themes since I was an art student, it’s all about how we as humans are connected to nature, and, as nature, we are constantly changing, which eventually leads us to death. It’s a kind of processing of this insight, that life and death are connected.
Before specializing in textile art, Hanne Friis studied sculpture and painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Trondheim between 1992 and 1996. Today, Friis is considered one of the most influential Norwegian contemporary artists working with textile. Friis has exhibited worldwide, including a major solo exhibition at the Vigeland Museum, Oslo, Norway in October 2022. Her works are included in several important public and private collections, including the National Museum of Art, Oslo, Norway; National Museum of Decorative Arts, Trondheim, Norway; Haugar Kunstmuseum, Tønsberg, Norway; West Norway Museum of Decorative Arts, Bergen, Norway and the Norwegian Parliament, Oslo, Norway.