Upcoming Book on Frida Hansen and her Wool Open Warp Transparency Technique

I’ve devised a beautiful challenge for myself – I’m writing a book with the working title, The Transparent Tapestries of Frida Hansen and her Followers: Art Nouveau Expression in Wool. I want readers to know about Frida Hansen as an exceptional artist, and in particular, to highlight her tapestries done in her signature wool open warp transparency technique. 

My research into her wool open warp transparency technique led me beyond Frida Hansen, to designers of transparent tapestries who were her followers. Many of the designers had been weavers in her studio, Den Norske Billedvæveri [The Norwegian Tapestry Studio]. They honed their weaving skills in the technique and were clearly influenced by Hansen’s naturalistic imagery. Many of their designs were sold by Husflid, the National Handcraft Association.

I want to recognize these talented women, and in doing so, pay tribute to Frida Hansen as a teacher, mentor, and artistic muse. Contemporary weavers and art lovers will appreciate and find inspiration in transparency designs both by Frida Hansen and the known and unknown designers who followed her. Frida Hansen’s followers deserve recognition in their own right. There are several sources that list artists who were Frida Hansen’s followers, but it is difficult to find many images of the pieces they designed. 

This feels like the time to undertake this book. There is a resurgence of interest in the art of Frida Hansen, especially since the retrospective of her work at the Stavanger Kunstmuseum [Stavanger Art Museum] in 2015. The Nasjonalmuseet [National Museum] in Oslo is currently undertaking a three-year project examining her work. 

I approach the work of Frida Hansen as a weaver and an instructor. I learned her transparency technique through personal study of her pieces during a fellowship from the American Scandinavian Foundation in 2019—and by spending lot of time at the loom since then. I have been teaching workshops around the U.S. and the observations and experiments of the students have been invaluable for my own research. 

The book will include guidance for contemporary weavers who want to weave their own wool open warp transparent tapestries, with information on technique and choosing materials. There will be a specific project, with suggested patterns based on elements of Frida Hansen transparencies. But I am emphasizing guidance over rigid instruction, because I think Frida Hansen would be excited to see modifications to her technique by contemporary weavers who are inspired by her work.

In this book weavers can appreciate the inventiveness of her imagery and use of materials; readers with little fiber experience can deepen their knowledge of how Frida Hansen developed as an artist and designer. 

I feel an affinity with Frida Hansen because of her commitment to traditional weaving in Norway, and her personal desire to follow her own artistic path. In this book I honor an artist who mastered her medium, came to find her own voice in wool, and who inspires tapestries in her transparency technique more a century later. 

My book will be published by Schiffer Press and is expected to come out in late 2025.