Heidi Strand

Nature is both my inspiration and my motives, plus that nature provides me with the materials. I mostly work with combed wool, both Icelandic and imported.

I use needle felting, wet felting and embroidery, as well as application, patchwork, and quilting. I utilize textiles of different qualities and texture, and free hand sewing with a sewing machine.

The works in this exhibition were made from 2004 to 2015, and the motives are fetched in Icelandic nature, as well as man’s influence on it and the changes.

I am often asked how much time I use on each work; my answer is four to six weeks of work over an extended period; and up to three month’s work over a three year period.

I was born and raised in Trondheim, Norway, but I have lived almost all my adult live in Reykjavik, Iceland, 37 years in all.
I took a two year education in Drawing, Form, and Colour at Elen Ofstad School in Trondheim, Drawing 1 in Mimir, Reykjavik, and Drawing 2 in Reykjavik Art School.

All my life I’ve been a creative person, and my mother’s basket with leftover yarn, box of buttons, or my aunt’s textile patches were my goldmine. I have always loved creating and discovering value in things that others ignored. The whole family benefited from that during the lean years when I sewed clothes for the whole family and everything for the home, but still I had time for the occasional wall-hanging, the first one in 1976. I also made colourful children’s clothes that I sold at the marked at Lækjartorg.

My very first solo exhibition was at Ásmundarsalur, Reykjavik, in 1982, where my husband arranged the whole thing before he presented the idea for me. I’m thankful that he started the wheel rolling, and it still keeps on rolling. A few years ago I ran into some obstacles, but now the wheel is rolling again.

I often get the question if I make a living by what I do. My answer is that I do not make a living by it, but that I live for it.