2026
to unravel / att nysta upp
"Every person I have taught in the decade since crochets with her hands as a guide, hands guided by her own mother and on and on back through the centuries. To unravel that past, that lineage, is to put our hands to the never-ending work of preserving, reworking, and recording women's history." –Elliot Rockart
My master's project traces the quiet languages and stories embedded in textile handcraft. It approaches handcraft as both a conceptual system and a social space, shaped by queer codes and the history of women's needlework. The project is rooted in archive material and collective workshops, and treats handcraft as both method and language – a space where knowledge moves sideways and is continually reshaped between hands, materials and participants. Craft becomes a way of forming connection and belonging, while also exploring how informal codes and modes of communication have travelled within communities and through generations.
Over the course of the project, I conducted three workshops: one at the bar "The Agenda" in Oslo, one in our classroom at KHiO, and one with a group of friends in Gothenburg. For these sessions, I prepared two documents: a grid where participants were encouraged to draw a letter of their own, and a sheet with space to illustrate a subject of their choice. Each workshop began with a brief presentation of my practice and the project's background, after which the participants were free to work without time limits or detailed instructions.
What emerged is not a collection of static or decorative objects, but rather a documentation of time, labour and memories, in which material and social threads are tightly interwoven. The project consists of a crocheted sampler (märkduk) that commemorates and embodies the project's first workshop at The Agenda; a printed book that presents the project's background and the collected letters; and a hand-sewn paper quilt featuring all of the illustrations. Together, these elements form a tactile exploration of how knowledge moves through hands, between people, and across time.