Loose Threads: Unfinished Sentences in Cloth
In the hands of a textile artist, threads become more than materials — they are pathways to different worlds, carrying stories that bridge cultures, landscapes, and moments in time. Artists like Signe Emdal, Riikka Peltola, and Vânia Reichartz invite us on a journey through weaving, knitting, and stitching. Each piece they create is like an open door, waiting for us to step through and explore the tales woven into fabric.
Threads are often left intentionally loose in their work, like unfinished sentences that keep us wondering. These loose ends invite us to look closer, ask questions, and imagine the stories still unfolding. For these artists, threads aren’t just materials — they are living connections that draw us into layered stories and emotions, inviting us to feel the depth and texture of their evolving worlds.
For Danish artist Signe Emdal, threads are lifelines to the places and emotions that inspire her. She doesn’t just see landscapes; she feels them, carrying their essence back to the loom. Whether in the wild, raw beauty of Iceland or the sun-dappled shores of Italy, Emdal travels with her loom, watercolours, and an old analogue camera to capture atmosphere. Each thread she weaves is like a note in a song, harmonising to convey a place’s energy.
My Little Icelandic Pony, Signe Emdal, 2018.
One of her works, My Little Icelandic Pony, created during her residency at the Icelandic Textile Center, is more than a piece of art. It’s a tribute to Iceland’s sweeping plains and their silent yet powerful presence. She describes herself as a “textile composer,” crafting images and feelings. Her threads respond to movement, air, and light, making her pieces feel alive and inviting viewers to step into her world.
Acqua 4ever / Evigheden, Signe Emdal
Another work, Acqua 4ever / Evigheden, inspired by her time in Italy in 2024, captures the dance between sea and sky at the horizon. The threads seem in constant motion, much like the tides. With vibrant colours and light woven together, the work tempts you to reach out and touch its textures, as if doing so might reveal more of the story. Emdal’s loose threads invite you to engage and imagine, drawing you into her world, one fibre at a time.
Metamorphosis I, Riikka Peltola
Finnish artist Riikka Peltola brings her own approach to textiles. Blending traditional craft with modern artistry, she connects deeply to her Finnish roots and to the natural world. Trained by a master artisan and strengthened through self-learning, she combines age-old knowledge with new techniques, showing how plants, landscapes, and materials come together in her hands. Her art feels familiar yet surprising, offering fresh perspectives on everyday materials.
Riikka Peltola with her artwork, Entangle. Photo Credit: Anette Koskinen
In her recent project, ENTANGLE, she collaborated with composer Pietari Kaasinen to create something unique. Riikka wove “knit maps” inspired by landscapes, which Pietari translated into musical compositions. The vivid red threads hanging from her work feel like roots reaching for the earth, grounding the art in the land. These threads convey nature’s pull, encouraging us to pause and reconnect with the world around us. Through ENTANGLE, she weaves sound, sight, and touch together, leaving her mark on both art and nature.
Withered IV, Vânia Reichartz
Then there’s Vânia Reichartz, an artist from Lisbon whose work is a quiet meditation on life. With a background in textiles and costume design, she explores the balance between beauty and change. After years working in Germany and Switzerland, she returned to Portugal to reconnect with textiles more intimately. Her WITHERED series is a perfect example of this journey. Inspired by the themes of mortality and transformation in Irvin D. Yalom’s book Facing the Sun, Vânia uses soft, uneven shapes that recall life’s delicate transitions.
Withered III, Vânia Reichartz
Her coiled pieces require patience and rhythm, with vibrant gradients flowing across organic forms. These shapes feel tender, like memories you can touch, evoking both fragility and strength. Using traditional techniques and allowing time for each piece, Vânia taps into something universal — a shared human experience that is easy to feel yet difficult to put into words.
Emdal, Peltola, and Reichartz bring new depth to textile art, turning threads into connections with memories, places, and people. Signe Emdal’s woven pieces let us feel the winds and light of faraway lands. Riikka Peltola’s mix of Finnish tradition and modern experimentation reminds us of nature’s cycles, inviting us to see textiles as part of an evolving story. Vânia Reichartz’s series reflects on life’s transitions, showing us the beauty in change.
What unites these artists is their view of art as always evolving. The loose threads they leave aren’t unfinished — they’re invitations, drawing us in to explore the stories within. Their textiles aren’t simply beautiful objects; they are alive, growing and shifting with each viewer. Through their work, these artists remind us that art is more than what we see — it is a way to connect with others, the world, and ourselves.
Each loose thread is a gentle pull, asking us to listen to the quiet stories woven in. These artists show us that textiles are more than fabric — they are experiences that open doors to new ways of seeing and feeling. Whether it’s the pull of a red thread, the sway of colour in the light, or the softness of wool shaped into memory, their work draws us into the intricate, enduring connections that bind us to our surroundings and to each other. Through their art, Emdal, Peltola, and Reichartz inspire us to look closer, feel deeply, and embrace the unseen threads that connect us all.
-
Written by Nina Zulian
contact@pluralmagazine.net
-
Further Information:
-
-
-
Image Credits:
Lead Image: Signe Emdal, Dreams of Gaia, 2024.
All other images as credited in photo captions.