Swept under the rug

Nina is a visual communicator, storyteller, textile artist and illustrator.  With an eye for detail, she draws inspiration from her observations. Her art is based on experiences, inner dialogue, the smaller things she notices and the part of conversations she’d catch. Her need to better understand the world and give others a new way to look at things is what drives her work.

What is your view on motherhood? 

In the textile installation ‘Swept under the rug’, Nina delves into the theme of motherhood. This conversation piece invites you to explore fragments of conversations, personal reflections, and research conclusions that have touched her throughout the project. 

Through tufted carpets, Nina captures the softness and complexity of motherhood, offering a tactile and visual representation of her journey. The colourful yarn used in this piece was sourced from thrift shops, leftover materials from old projects, and gifted by friends, family, and acquaintances. These colours represent her connection with the people around her, as the yarn has traveled through different spaces and now comes together to represent her findings. 

The art piece invites the viewer to engage with it.  
They’re free to sit, touch, and hold the carpets to discover the text printed underneath. The interaction is part of the experience when viewing the art piece. 

In her research, she spoke to cis women and mothers, using their experiences as a foundation for her journey and as a basis for further exploration within the topic of motherhood. That being said, it is important to acknowledge that not only mothers can give birth and not only mothers care for children. In her research, Nina reflected on the different views and she looks forward to further develop projects surrounding the theme of parenting and motherhood.