Inger Johanne Rasmussen

Inger Johanne Rasmussen is a Norwegian artist whose work is rooted in the tradition of patchwork quilting. Most of her monumental “carpets” are made from military issue wool foot cloths, which she dyes and cuts into pieces.  These are placed side-by-side and glued with an adhesive and stabilizing interface, after which they are sewn together by hand, as with applique. While Inger Johanne’s carpets span a broad visual range in motif, colour, tone and pattern, the underlying technique is constant, and most take the traditional square or rectangular form. These techniques and traditions of making, along with visual references to familiar vernacular patterns and the re-use of a material itself loaded with meaning, establish an important point of reference in her work, where the challenge is to create a new and contemporary expression from those conventions.

“The majority of textile patterns have motifs derived from reality, most often from nature. Yet nature is not rendered in all its curves, parts or nuances. In genuine-nature everything hangs together; in textile-nature elements are divided up, sorted and organised. Patterns are subordinated to styles, sorts, colour-scales and intentions. Precisely here, in the overly perspicuous intention, I want you to look for the story. In the textile’s intention there is the dream of a better world, and, in this small scale, also the attempt to help make things better.”

Born in 1958, Inger Johanne Rasmussen lives and works in Oslo. Her work is held in several national public collections in Norway including the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design and the Oslo Museum of Decorative Art.