Originally from Finland, Kustaa Saksi (1975) is an acclaimed Amsterdam-based artist and designer who’s best known for his forward tapestry creations that have been exhibited at leading art galleries and museums across the planet. Saksi’s latest showcase at Finlandsinstitutet in Stockholm is very much indicative of his drive to explore, innovate, and set new standards along the way in this age-old art form. As such, the Finnish creative has spent the past seven years at TextielLab, a knowledge centre in the Dutch provincial town of Tilburg, to hone his skills. Entitled First Symptoms, the exhibition displays six one-off tapestries, all manufactured with the so-called Jacquard weaving technique. Interestingly, each work takes cues from the scientific examination and personal experience of migraine, resulting in richly layered and multi-sensory portrayals of this chronic and unpredictable condition. Prodrome, aura, attack, post-drome – the phases of migraine seen in Saksi’s tapestries are influenced by ornamentation from a variety of sources: from nature’s systems, scientific illustration and tribal art to black metal visuals. He has chosen the weaving technique and materials to emphasise the nature of migraine and to accent the healing approach of the artworks as well, them being tactile and gentle constructions (on through Mar 2).
Finlandsinstitutet
Snickarbacken 2-4 (Norrmalm)
111 39 Stockholm
Telephone: +46 8 54521200
Mon-Fri 9-5
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
