Interlocked, a solo show by Annika Berglund

Interlocked, a solo show by Annika Berglund, 14 Nov - 11 Dec 2021, Olivier Cornet Gallery

14 November - 11 December 2021

Solo show


Launch of the show: 

- At the gallery, Sunday 14 November, 2:00-6:00pm in the presence of the artist (Please book a time that suits you by calling/texting or emailing us)  

- On line in our 3D Virtual Space, Sunday 14 November from 12 noon onwards (link will be disabled until then)


Availability of the show:  

- Tuesdays to Sundays at the gallery from 16 November to 11 December (please book a time).

- Online in our 3D Virtual Space from Sunday 14 November onwards. 

The Olivier Cornet Gallery is delighted to present this solo show by gallery artist Annika Berglund.

'Interlocked'

Within the last year and a half, Covid has changed many aspects of our lives.

Most of us retreated into the safety of the domestic space except for those whose essential occupations meant they had to risk venturing out in society.

The world seemed to shrink to fit inside square walls. It consisted of the circles we walked inside these walls and the bubbles we embraced.

The connections to the world outside the squares and circles felt both much more tenuous and infinitely more important as the barriers to physical encounters grew.

Life had to continue inside these confines. In our minds and in the virtual world we reached out to connect with a whole new urgency.

Creativity and making became more complicated, impossible for some art forms, but bringing forth innovation and change in many instances.
 
"This new reality led me to focus my practice on the immediate and the simple; the square I felt confined, but also protected me, the circle - the nurturing bubble, but also the sinister round spiky shape of the Coronavirus.
 
Before the pandemic I had already been looking at a shift in materials from clay, glass and bronze to less energy hungry ways of expression. Textiles and fibre arts worked well in that context and proved to work much better in my new, more confined creative space.
 
My work has always been informed by the character of different materials and in a dialog with their specific possibilities and constraints. Working with felt and mulberry paper turned out to be well suited for making in the domestic setting, but also appealed to me due to the symbology of how these materials come together.
 
In creating this new series, fluffy wisps of wool and soft sheets of Mulberry paper are put together loosely, wetted down with soapy water and agitated to create a very strong fabric of interlocked fibres. The mulberry and wool fibres, through soap, water, rubbing and being knocked around, create connections that hold them together so tightly they can no longer be pulled apart and they become a unified whole. Cohesion through adversity if you will..."

Please note that the exhibition will also feature the artist's Corona piece 'In Danger? Who?' which was recently acquired by the National Museum of Ireland for their Covid-related collection. The artist and the gallery would like to thank the National Museum of Ireland for allowing us to include this work in the show.

"Early on in this project I was gifted some raw wool from a farmer in Arklow..."~
Read more about 'The wool used in this exhibition' in the artist's own words


Coverage / reviews

  • Martin Cid Magazine, 24 October 2021

  • 'The Best Art Exhibitions To See in November', Penny McCormick, The Gloss, 3 November 2021 (featuring "Interlocked") 

  • November Exhibitions, Irish Arts Review Magazine, Winter issue 2021:
    "Annika Berglund's Interlocked at the Olivier Cornet Gallery showcases a series of textile and fibre artworks created during the pandemic. Berglund utilises the sphere of the bubble, and the round, spiky shape of the virus, to create new works from felt and mulberry paper. When combined, wetted and agitated, these materials create a strong, cohesive fabric of interlocking patterns". The text is accompanied by 'Domestic Spaces II'.

  • Ros Drinkwater, Fine Arts: Events calendar, Business Post, 14 November (featuring 'The patterns we make' in the online version of the listing), 21 November, 28 November 2021

  • "Navigating emotion in the pandemic: Annika Berglund’s Interlocked opens at the Olivier Cornet Gallery", Maisie McGregor, Trinity News, 24 November 2021

  • 'Making box forms in felt', a film by Annika Berglund (with still photography by Ramona Farrelly), 5 December 2021
  • Annika Berglund, The patterns we make, felted mulberry paper, olivier cornet gallery
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