The Healing Coat 2017

Window exhibition at artists space Kolonin Arvika, Sweden

Enchanted clothing in fairytales is a significant symbol that can protect and transform but also curse or even kill it’s wearer. Like the evil stepmother from the Grimm fairytale of ¨The 6 Swans¨, who casts a spell upon 6 brothers, by throwing enchanted white shirts over them, that transform them into swans. To break the curse their little sister has to knit 6 vests out of nettles, with her bare hands, to free them and turn them back into boys. After 6 years of knitting she has almost finished, except for the last shirt, which misses one arm. When the six swans come flying through the air, she throws the nettle vests over them and her brothers regain their human form. Except for the youngest, who is left with one white wing.

“The making of art is, in it’s origin, a magical act. A symbolic gesture to inspirit an object or surface in order to please the gods; To ward off disaster or to mend its injurious effects. This ancient way of making art is still very relevant to me and when I was hit by a tragedy that life sometimes has in store for us, I began stitching myself a coat of the medicinal reindeer lichen to soothe and protect myself. Much like in the Swan fairytale, endless meticulous handwork was needed to break the curse. An inseparable part of this process is also that the result, in this case, the coat, means to transmit it’s obtained powers onto the onlooker. So the coat is there for whomever may need it. It is Everyman´s coat”.