ARTIST TILDE GRYNNERUP
Tilde Grynnerup is a Danish multi disciplinary artist educated in textile design and specialized in embroidery. Based in Copenhagen, the artist works without limitations.
I inherited craftsmanship from my carpenter father, so woodwork is like family. I work with him in our joint workshop by a small forest. The interaction between the countryside nature and the city, is my perfect balance. Just like the interaction between working with soft materials like textile and hard materials like brass and wood. Feminism is to me about equality and the freedom of being, and that subject is a constant in my work. Driven by social indignation and a general curiosity about people and life, my artwork usually aim to communicate a thought or a feeling.
Tilde, thank you for joining us today, please tell us about your greatest inspirations or influences as an artist?
My greatest inspiration is life.
I have always had an urge to express myself, be it musically or visually. I think it’s a way for me to digest and process what goes on around me, it's as natural to me as breathing. I can be influenced by a feeling, a person, an injustice or something beautiful. It feels random..just like life.
How does technology affect your work as a creative?
Im an analogue woman from 1973. I like holding a hammer in my hand, and the feeling of materials, like wood and textile. Even the tactile sensation of pressing a real button with a finger. Creating is very much connected to the hands for me, even if it comes from a thought or a feeling.
When I think about NFT for instance, I get a little dizzy and feel like moving to the countryside and growing my own veggies. There is something alienating about it, and I want to get back to the earth. I don’t know…maybe i’m just getting old, but I think that the whole new technology/Instagram era has also paved way for me as an artist, as well as many creatives, creating a platform to play and experiment and share. I have fun with it, and enjoy connecting with people worldwide.
Tell us about your creative process.
When I create wood sculptures, I normally start in my workshop in the countryside, joggling around with different shapes of wood pieces, remnants and off cuts. It’s a very intuitive process.
Sometimes I have an idea of how I want the outcome to be, and sometimes I don’t. The main thing is to find a balance in the piece, and still create some tension to keep it interesting. I assemble everything and bring it back to my studio in the city, where I paint it. Here it’s the same process. Finding a mix of balance and tension. And when it’s finished, it’s finished, I just kind of know.
You can say my work method is all intuition and gut feeling. The same goes when I work on my textile pieces and installations. I joggle different ways of conveying my message and keep at it until it works.
I think that when your primary work method is as elusive as intuition and gut feeling, it’s very important to really master the two, along with having a great deal of discipline, consistency and courage.
What do you think of the art world?
I don’t know much about the art world, but it seems like it recently has started changing and opening up to new ways, likely because of new technology such as social media. Growing up, I thought the art world was only for the few and privileged. I didn’t think becoming an artist was possible for the likes of me (working class). I didn’t think when I started writing songs at a very early age, that I was creating art. But I was. I was expressing myself and conveying feelings in a musical form. And when I graduated in textile and embroidery, as top of my class because I pushed the boundaries of old traditional handcraft, I still didn’t dare consider my work as art. It wasn’t until I made a profile on Instagram and really started experimenting and showing my work, that I slowly opened up to the idea, that I could be part of an art world. It was an amazing feeling, because I suddenly felt at home work wise, for the first time in my life. I don’t think that would have ever happened in the days before social media. So in that way, the art world is definitely an industry in change towards a democratization. And i consider myself very lucky to be part of it.
Upcoming projects we should know about Tilde?
I am currently working on a solo exhibition in Galeria F&deO in Madrid next year, and of course really looking forward to that. I think it will be a mix of textile, wood and installation, whatever my heart desire in a sustainable loving context.
What does wellbeing mean to you?
Wellbeing for me is feeling present and balanced in life. I go for runs and meditate, as often as the old hip allows (excuses excuses) It is also spending time with my son, and I try to “practice” that as often as I can, but very up hill, with him being a teenager and naturally wanting to liberate from me.
Wellbeing is also a glass of wine at the end of the day. I practice that too ;)
Anything else?
I think that with everything going on in the world today, all the craziness, and the bad shape we’re in, it feels kind of urgent to comment on it and try to change things. And at the same time I also just want to press pause to the negative and violent self reinforcing spiral, that humanity is on, and try to convey a different, more hopeful and loving world, just as an alternative to the goddamn news.