The Pleasure Garden of Crafts

Birgitta Faxe works with images in mixed textile techniques and watercolours. Based on different themes and using the material as a starting point, she strives for what is in line with her vision. She describes her working process as searching and testing, with an openness to change right up to the final result. Faxe is a visual and textile artist trained at Sätergläntan, Stockholm Art School and Konstfack.

www.birgittafaxe.se

Carsten Nilsson's artistic language is based on classical 18th-century woodcarving, which is also the foundation of his education. His signature is mirror frames but Nilsson also makes other types of woodcarvings and commissions. Sculpture and woodcarving are slow crafts and the objects are few and unique. The studio is located in Hammenhög, Österlen, in the south of Sweden, where he also runs courses in wood sculpture.

www.carstennilsson.se

With a background as a goldsmith, Charlotte Melander has broadened her artistic practice and scaled up to larger formats. The accumulated knowledge and experience of the craft gives her both the confidence and the freedom to use old techniques and tools in a new way, taking on new shapes and more kinds of metals. She is often inspired by nature.

www.charlottemelander.se

Blown glass is Ebba von Wachenfeldt's artistic language, through which she tells stories, looks at life and asks philosophical questions. After 40 years in the profession, she describes her work as a symbiosis between her and the glass, where they explore the properties and elegance of the material together.

http://www.vonwachenfeldt.se/

http://www.skeppstahytta.se/

Jonas Rooth is one of Sweden's most experienced glass artists. His work is characterised by an abundance of colour and complexity, where the objects are made up of many separate parts. Rooth exploits the ability of glass to convey colour and is inspired by classical showpieces such as Venetian chandeliers and sconces. Sometimes nature is the starting point, as something both beautiful and frightening.

www.jonasrooth.com

Kristina Lundsjö is a textile artist with a design background, educated at Beckmans School of Design and Konstfack in Stockholm. In her work she often uses a collage method with mixed techniques, such as textile printing and application. She is interested in patterns and the painterly potential of textiles. Lundsjö also experiments with different constructions giving the textiles a sculptural form.

www.kristinalundsjo.com

Kristine Thenman mainly works sculpturally in stoneware clay, often in combination with other materials, drawings and flea market finds to create contrast and excitement. By starting from an already given object, a readymade, she gives herself, in addition to the material contrast, a quick entry into the work. An overarching theme in her work is nature, from the internal systems of the body to the decorative depictions of nature and landscapes in the living room.

kristinethenman.se

Through her embroidered wall hangings, Sonja Nordgren creates her own textile world of stories, personal reflections and criticism of her times. She gives the viewer access to her work through its titles, such as "Kristina Lugn and the Kiss", "Stoned Woman" and "God or Darwin?". Nordgren has previously painted, sewn traditional and local riding and bridal cushions for the National Association of Swedish Handicraft Societies. Nowadays her focus is entirely on the embroidered wall hangings.

sonjanordgren@icloud.com

The Swedish Crafts Centre is the only occupational organisation for professional craft artists working in Sweden, with around 750 members from all over the country. The aim for the organisation is to highlight, develop and raise the status of crafts in contemporary culture, nationally as well as internationally. Through public events, exhibitions, competence-enhancing and intermediary activities, the goal is to improve the financial situation for members.

konsthantverkscentrum.se