Hillu Liebelt

Apart from my love for tapestry weaving I like to experiment with different materials and sculptural forms. I particularly like to combine metal and yarns to create small to mediumsized wall mounted or free standing objects. In most cases the inspiration comes from the material itself, sometimes from organic shapes and colours.

By weaving in relatively flexible wires a flat woven piece can be moulded, gaining some three-dimensionality. Rigid wire frameworks can be used to devise abstract textile structures on difterent planes. The multi-coloured patterns created at random by patination of sheets of brass foil may predestine the design of a piece where the woven areas and inserted strips of patinated metal seem to illuminate each other.

To give another example, if I see a piece of aluminium with its beautiful matt silver sheen I begin to play with ideas how it could be used in combination with my tapestries. You can gently bend the metallic sheet so it looks like a shield; you can drill holes into it or connect two or more pieces together. The tapestry, perhaps woven with rayon filament in metallic colours, often with open areas, can be stretched over the aluminium sheet which will shine through the textile surface.

I am excited by all the options of combining metallic and textile materials, the contrast between the hard and the soft, the rigid and the pliable.