Inspired by modern philosophies of tranquillity, Thelma Rut Gunnarsdóttir, BA graduate of Iceland University of the Arts, works with how the body and the space surrounding it become an extension of ourselves. For her collection, Gunnarsdóttir has merged two seemingly divergent fields: crochet and inspiration from horror films. As her main method of craft, crochet is created through an organic process that is flexible and offers technical possibilities to change direction in the process of making. With crochet, Gunnarsdóttir has explored a craft that materialises tranquillity, one loop at the time. The colours of the work, both subdued and hallucinogenic, are inspired by the science fiction horror film Annihilation. Especially, the film’s added dimension of surrealist nature served as inspiration to create ethereal offerings of colour. To explore the space between body and garment, Gunnarsdóttir has built metal structures for the body. The process of marrying the organic nature of the crochet with the moulding of the metal is unpredictable and the result is a surreal, skin-tight and craft-based collection with crocheted metal enclosures, carried on the body as portable spaces of tranquillity.
