WOOL INTO LIGHT WITH TAPESTRY ARTIST SOILE HOVILA
The Norwegian Textile Letter frequently profiles contemporary Scandinavian artists working with fibre. The current issue features an interview of the Finnish tapestry weaver Soile Hovila, by Minnesota weaver and writer Mandy Pedigo. This is a description by Pedigo.
“Soile Hovila’s woven worlds invites viewers into textiles with exquisite soft atmospheric light. Though some might be tempted to call Hovila’s compositions painterly, they are unmistakably textile, an important distinction. Finland isn’t known for tapestry traditions, but Hovila is slowly changing that with her compositions. Large in scale, her works achieve a depth through the careful mixing of many strands of yarns in a variety of colours. 
Image: Soile Hovila, World of Contrasts II, 2018. 148×98 cm. © Henna Mitrunen.
Through her mastery she achieves subtle bends and gradations. She blurs the lines of natural spaces into human constructed buildings. In her latest work, Ataraxia, she urges us to consider nature as a sacred space through an image of a beautifully rendered cathedral stained glass melded into the landscape. 
Image: Soile Hovila, World of Contrasts I, 2017. 162×130 cm. © Henna Mitrunen.
A layering of glass floats from the landscape into the water, revealing a hidden animal that can only be seen with careful viewing. The deep space of the work draws the eye deep into the landscape only to be transfixed by light on the horizon.”
Read the full interview of Soile Hovila in the Norwegian Textile Letter article, “Weaving Light and Meaning: A Conversation with Artist Soile Hovila."