Tin Åling

“In my art, I’m interested in people and their behaviour in interaction with others and with themselves. I depict human situations in an attempt to understand, decode and approach my own reality. Through the repetition of needlework and the warmth of textiles, I take care of and cherish the everyday life that I share with others. In my stylistically simple, colourful and textile works, the present is softened; human behaviour is dissected and simplified to attract attention. I create a parallel reality where the world is seen through my eyes.”

Amid the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we constantly encounter people who irritate us, situations that get tangled up, confusions and misunderstandings. Tin Åling gathers up these narratives and transforms them into images. It is Åling’s everyday life that we see, but it is also the everyday life that we share as people and as members of society. Banal events that cause a stir… they are life’s hardships, but they are also life’s comedy.

However, Åling does not stop at simply recording in the form of drawings and animations. Through the slow method of tufting, the images grow into spatial works when the yarn meets the fabric. Thick mats of threads and colour. Tufting is a quiet act, but it requires perseverance. In a persistent rhythm of hands working, craftsmanship takes its soft form. Thread by thread. The carpet is both a surface and an object, and it carries the passage of time.

At the same time, the motifs also capture the immediacy of the moment. We are caught between speed and slowness, irritation and patience, dirtiness and cleanliness. And onwards: Between body and shadow, fragility and rawness, indifference and desire. Åling shows us a world of frustration, empathy and hilarious humour.