Hanne Friis

Overview
Hanne Friis

Friis does not imitate the laws and biological systems of nature, but instead seems to touch on its primal forms in a wild yet controlled expressive interpretation. This is a form of art where there is an unmistakable presence of the hand. At the same time, the works give the impression of denying the centrality of handicraft. It is as if Friis, via the engagement of the hands, also has set the works free – they are what they are single-handedly.

 
 The mixture of organic forms and synthetic materials, such as imitation leather or plastic, in some of Friis’s works may seem like a paradox. As the art critic Jorunn Veiteberg has observed: “This embrace of both the natural and the artificial is one of several paradoxes in Friis’ art. That her sculptures are both abstract and physical, beautiful and disquieting, are two others... Throughout history, different materials have been given different values. These are not simply inherentqualities, but also values created by the social and historical circumstances in which they existed, and the uses to which they have been put, particularly with regards to gender. By repeating the same motif in materials so different as velvet, plastic and concrete, Friis reveals some of these differing values."
 
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Works
  • The Waves
    The Waves
  • Burden
    Burden
  • New Ornaments II. The Silk Series
    New Ornaments II. The Silk Series
  • New Ornaments I. The Silk Series
    New Ornaments I. The Silk Series
  • Trophy
    Trophy
  • New Ornaments I, The Light Series
    New Ornaments I, The Light Series
  • New Ornaments II, The Light Series
    New Ornaments II, The Light Series
  • New Ornaments III, The Light Series
    New Ornaments III, The Light Series
  • Spring, Autumn
    Spring, Autumn
  • Buoyant
    Buoyant
  • Inner Life II
    Inner Life II
  • Inner Life III
    Inner Life III
  • Grey Monument I
    Grey Monument I
  • Grey Monument II
    Grey Monument II
  • Column
    Column
  • Ornamental Grey
    Ornamental Grey
  • The Juice from the Trees II
    The Juice from the Trees II
  • Imprint III
    Imprint III
  • Gorge II
    Gorge II
  • Topography III
    Topography III
  • Flood
    Flood
  • La Vague
    La Vague
  • White Object
    White Object
  • The Mountain
    The Mountain
  • The Sky is the Limit
    The Sky is the Limit
  • Dance
    Dance
  • Map I
    Map I
  • Map V
    Map V
  • Metallic Crater
    Metallic Crater
  • Membrane
    Membrane
  • Golem
    Golem
  • MAP VI
    MAP VI
  • Landscape, Shadows
    Landscape, Shadows
  • Landscape, Winter
    Landscape, Winter
Biography
Hanne Friis
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.

 
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