Making by hand is an essential part of humanity: the cooperation of hand and material has kept the humankind alive. Our ancestresses have sheared, spun and woven to keep their families warm. Weaving has brought food to the table and taken us further away. Woven textiles have embellished, told stories and conveyed messages. And today, when machines produce our clothing and interior design, we still make with our hands, because it is part of us, makes us happier. Because it is part of humanity.
I am Sofia.
I am a handworker, a craftswoman, part of a long chain of weavers. I am also a designer and maybe a bit of an artist.
I work mainly with natural materials, and in my artworks I use a lot of recycled and surplus materials. My artworks are often material-based: I let existing materials speak to me, tell what they could become. When using new materials, I strive to choose those that have been produced in the most humane and environmentally friendly way possible. Ethics and ecology are the starting point, not added values.
My most important working tool is my weaving loom, with which I create both functional and artistic textiles, both to order and for the joy of creation. Of all woven textiles, rya is the one I love the most: weft by weft, pile by pile, slowly and immersed, I can create surfaces, feelings, and states of being that have their roots far in the past and yet are right here and now.
