Grethe Sorensen

Grethe Sørensen revolutionized the art of tapestry by inventing a method to convert photographic pixels into threads. She also translates video recordings into woven textiles, both processes marrying traditional methods of craftsmanship to modern digital technology. Although she is regarded as a pioneer in the field of textile art for her integration of digital techniques, Sørensen is also extremely knowledgeable in traditional tapestry methods, which she studied in Switzerland and France in the late 1970s. Inspired by nature and the colors, light, and optical phenomena that surround her, Sorensen portrays this imagery through digital tools, like her handloom with digital thread control for small works or an industrial, mechanical jacquard loom for larger pieces. Often turning an unfocused camera lens to urban cities, Sørensen's tapestries transform the lights and abstracted elements of the city into contemporary, metropolitan dreamscapes.

"Textile is the continuing theme in my life. I am fascinated by fibers and weaving techniques. Exploration of the two systems of threads - warp and weft crossing on another - is a continuous challenge. I am fascinated by constructing matter by means of thread – three-dimensional shapes or two-dimensional planes with shapes and colors - in which the material, the structure and the weaving techniques are necessary and indispensable parts of the matter. I dye most of my materials. I am fascinated by gradating colors, which I dye on the warp before the weaving, varying the colors by mixing threads of different nuances in the warp. In my tapestries I often combine these gradations with transformation or dissolving of patterns." - Grethe Sorensen

Selected collections and exhibition venues:
Museum for Applied Art, Copenhagen, Denmark (4th Nordic Textile Triennial); Musée des Arts Decoratifs, Paris, France; Lane Municipal Gallery, Erfurt, Germany (Configura, Art in Europa); Museum of Art, Ein Harod, Israel (Critical Utopia: Mishan le' Omanut); Nagoya, Japan (In Our Hands); Tournai, Belgium (International Textile Triennial); Museum of Art, Sao Paulo, Brazil (FIO II Brazil); North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks (A Scandinavian Sensibility); Maison de la Culture d'Arlon, Luxembourg; (Nordic Textile Triennials); South Jutland Museum of Art, Tønder, Denmark; Institute for Industrial Design, Warsaw, Poland; Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Ghent, Belgium; Kyoto, Japan (5th and 6th International Textile Competition); Academy of Art & Design, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China (From Lausanne to Beijing, International Fiber Art Biennial).