LIV ENQVIST

My process begins with how a word makes me feel, I have an obsession with languages and I believe in the healing magic of words. I lived in a handful of different countries and every new language has added another dimension to my way of thinking. Language is a foreign land of sorts where you slowly make yourself at home.

I work with embroidery, it’s a mindful and slow practice where you see the gesture of the hand and time is the secret ingredient. When I have finished a work, I usually take it out on the land and create videos and photos with it, it is an extension of the piece itself. It’s a way for me to connect to the place where I live.

“Embroidery has been balancing on the edge between craft and art for a while and I like taking an ancient technology with all it’s female historical connotations and to see how I can use it as a tool for expression. It’s such a versatile way of working and I love how it can be applied on so many different types of surfaces, both practical and decorative. (I’ve created everything from table cloths to worker’s jackets..) But that said, beauty IS functional.”

I work a lot with semi transparent materials. I like how they morph into their surroundings and come alive in the wind.They make me think about the spirit world and subtler realms that surround us. I like the tactile quality of working with fabric. Sometimes I use materials I have inherited from my grandmother and my mother.

Liv Enqvist lives and works in Byron Bay, Australia. She studied Fine Art at Stockholm University and has had solo exhibitions in Sweden and Australia as well as Cornwall and Rome.