Fragments of the past
These delicate pieces of wallpaper were discovered whilst renovating a log house on the Island of Replot, Finland. Layers upon layers of wallpaper were removed, each hinting at the decade in which it was designed. The house is around 120 years old, and upon reaching the final layers of thin paper applied directly to the wooden logs, I delicately removed them fragment by fragment.
The pigment appears to ‘sit’ on the paper and has a real depth of colour, often with a beautiful chalky finish. I’m piecing together and cataloguing what I can of the original patterns. As I do so, I visualise how each room in the house may have looked over 100 years ago and how those colours and patterns may have influenced the people living there.
Importantly, this process also helps me to feel connected to my new home and country.
I intend to recreate some of these designs into new repeat patterns that will be screen printed with natural colour.
Cultural Significance
The island of Replot is located in Ostrobothnia, one of only two Finnish regions with a Swedish-speaking majority and its cultural heritage is deeply intertwined with the population. I am interested in finding out the history of these small pieces of design and if they are deemed to have cultural significance to the Islanders themselves.
First Steps
Experimenting with a 10cm tracing of the ‘wildflower’ kitchen wallpaper, screen printed onto organic fibres with various natural colours.
Tracing a small section onto acrylic, to be exposed onto a silk screen
First print onto plant-dyed organic linen
Indigo, turmeric, mineral nicosia and logwood lake onto khadi cotton and organic linen
Natural indigo pigment on khadi cotton
Natural indigo pigment and opaque madder onto bamboo silk
Natural ochre pigment on linen, random scattered print