Artist in Residence at the Textile Centre Haslach
Report by Lisa Stollnberger
05.08 – 15.08.2025

 TUFTING .the river flows in you.

 I had the extraordinary pleasure of completing a nearly two-week artist-in-residence in Haslach together with three wonderful textile art designers from Japan/England, Japan/Netherlands, and Mongolia.

I was able to try out the textile processing technique of tufting, and due to my professional horticultural background, which primarily deals with the selection and composition of plants/plant structures in public (natural) spaces, I greatly enjoyed using the tufting technique to sculpt landscape forms/topographies/vegetation structures from a bird's-eye view. My approach was intuitive and creative, based on the idea/concept of reproducing a river landscape/the play of water and its transformation with the landscape - without BLUE, there is no GREEN - in textile form.

Tufting involves piercing a yarn through a backing material, creating loops or pile on the front side. The loops can either be left as they are (loop pile carpet) or cut open (cut pile). For this project, I was able to utilize a variety of different loop pile and cut pile hand machines from the tufting studio. Each machine has its own characteristics regarding weight, handling, and contours - body and mind :-) need time to adapt to the basic technical and physical requirements of this textile handcrafting technique. Even though I am very accustomed to physical labor, the dynamic and enthusiastic start with the tufting machines in Haslach led me to think about ergonomically comfortable working right at the beginning of the workshop. I decided to seek variety and diversity in tufting and tried out punch needling, among other techniques.

Organization/Procedure in the Tufting Studio.

For the first two days, I was able to get back into tufting with Ingrid. We prepared the large tufting frame in the studio and stretched mesh tiles onto large and small frames. Working side by side was very valuable for getting back into crafting.

I tried to get back into the technique and handling of the work on a small scale. I reacquainted myself with the machines, studied the wool chamber, and delved into color theory, experimenting with various levels of detail in the depiction of water – from drops to the meandering of a river as seen in satellite images – using textiles and graphics.

It has its appeal, both on a small and a large scale. Of course, the performance of the machines, combined with the supporting textile, provides the framework for the pieces.

The workpieces are then glued together on the back and impregnated with another textile mesh fabric – this allows for use both horizontally and vertically.

The final touches are made with the Drimmer (hair clipper). This allows for correcting/shortening loops and runs, and further processing pile types in their three-dimensionality. I didn't realize until the end that the Drimmer represents the gateway to another microcosm of the tufting world. Here, the flow of creativity takes another sharp turn. Both towards the source and towards the mouth - you just have to be careful not to get carried away :-).

The concept for my project - the river flows in you - has been a strong influence on me, both mentally and visually. Just as the water in a river is constantly moving, creating new situations, images, impressions, and atmospheres every second, so too is the tufting process. Decisions constantly have to be made: be it in the style, the cut, the pile technique, the color/composition, the level of detail in the motif selection... and depending on your current creative situation, a decision can turn out one way or the other... With this in mind, I immersed myself entirely in this "random process" of creative work. The results are a reflection of my time in Haslach and the wonderful culturally and creatively inspired exchange!

Crafts and Creativity needs fertile ground: security, information, impressions, insights. That means: read a lot, watch a lot, cook a lot, swim a lot, talk a lot … and let it sink in.

.THANK YOU. Tomoyo, Amy, Chimgee, Ingrid, Christina and Andreas for the wonderful time with you – I was able to experience a textile journey around the world in Haslach. The most beautiful moments in life are those when you feel like you're in the right place at the right time.

 

Contact

lisa@mim.at