I met several local weavers when I was in Stavanger in 2019 with a fellowship from the American-Scandinavian Foundation, including Marit Gilje-Jaatun. She told me about her cousin, the artist Ingrid Falnes Ellingsen, who died in 2015. Ellingsen had a long career as a tapestry weaver, and most interesting to me, she wove many tapestries in wool open warp transparency technique, Frida Hansen’s technique. She sent me a photo of Ellingsen’s tapestry, Slekt skal Følge Slekters Gang. That translates literally to Family will Follow the Family’s Path. Or how about The Path of Generations?
Not only is the tapestry woven in the wool open warp technique pioneered by Frida Hansen, the image is reminiscent of the image in Frida Hansen’s famous Melkeveien tapestry. (The Milky Way was not woven in transparency technique.) Both have figures floating diagonally up through the frame.
Ellinsen’s transparency has interesting technique in that there is no solid bottom border, as most transparencies have. The Path of Generations has loose warp streaming directly from the pattern elements at the bottom of the image.
After Ellingsen’s death a retrospective exhibit was held and a video made of most of her production. Youtube video. It begins with a number of frames with biographical information, which I have translated below. Her transparent tapestries are shown from from about 1 minute, 21 seconds to 4:05.
Ingrid Falnes Ellingsen, born January 11, 1925, had the greatest part of her active artistic career in Skudeneshavn. Even as a girl, Ingrid began to weave, but it wasn’t until the end of the 60s that she carried out her dream of weaving large tapestries.
After she and her husband Rasmus Ellingsen took over the farm at Falnes, Ingrid taught herself to carve, spin and weave with natural dyes. With self-produced yarn made with wool from their sheep, and colors from flowers and plants at Falnes, it was truly local production. Although natural dyeing was fascinating, Ingrid later switched to chemical dyes because they were more light resistant.She received a number of commissions, including altar cloths for Falnes Church. Twenty of her tapestries hang in public areas in buildings around Karmey, in Stavanger, Trondheim, Copenhagen and Spain. Her works also hang in many private homes in several countries.
She was awarded a medal of honor, a gold pin and a diploma from Norges Husflidslag [the Norwegian Handcraft Association] in 2004 as the driving force behind the establishment
and operation of Sor-Karmoy Husflidslag. In 2006 she was awarded Karmey municipality’s cultural award for her tireless work for Skudenes History Association and for the museum in Malandsgärden, and Sor-Karmoy Husflidslag [Handcraft Association].From and including 2011, Ingrid was awarded the State’s Artist stipend. She actively wove until she passed away in 2015. This presentation shows most of her works in transparent weaves, weaving, embroideries and church textiles.
I am actively researching the influence that Frida Hansen had on Norwegian weavers, particularly with her wool open warp transparency technique. If anyone reading this knows of more weavers using Frida Hansen’s transparency technique in that past century, please get in contact.