Ensamvargen är ett flockdjur
Sänkan var tydligen idealisk för bärplockning.
Arbeta i uppförsbacke.
Det sparar ryggen, han talade av egen erfarenhet.
Vi låg sida vid sida i tystnad bland riset.
Tallarna bildade en sirlig vägg runt oss
när eftermiddagsljuset kastade in sina långa,
solvarma fingrar som precis nådde in
till lingonplockningens epicentrum.
Fyra liter senare rörde vi oss motvilligt hemåt,
med fuktiga byxor som fått smaka på mossan.

The Lone Wolf is a Herd Animal
The hollow was apparently ideal for berry picking.
Working on the uphill slope.
It spares the back, he spoke from personal experience.
We lay side by side in silence among the sprigs.
The pines formed an exquisite wall around us
when the afternoon light threw in its long,
sun-warmed fingers that had just reached in
to the epicenter of lingonberry picking.
Four liters later we reluctantly proceeded home,
with damp trousers that had tasted the moss.

(Translated by Marcia Harvey Isaksson)

This poem is Sanna Haverinen’s sketch that opens to a free creative process. Through her method of writing, a system of hundreds of notes created through a sort of automatic writing, a new way of building images was born. Characters have emerged from the lyrics, all of whom are solitary but at the same time indispensable to each other. Screen printing is Haverinen’s method and the components are used in the same way as when she writes. For several years she has strived to be able to portray her Tornedalian background and culture, in a kind of everyday life in places where it can be far between like-minded people, but where life still passes in harmony with non-conformists.

Haverinen has an ongoing collaboration with the musician and composer Nils Berg. For some time now, they have nurtured the idea of being able to react to each other’s work, sending images and sounds between them to see where it leads. Ensamvargen är ett flockdjur is their starting point. At the opening on November 4, they invite you to take part in the beginning of everything.

Sanna Haverinen was educated at Beckmans (1998-2001) and is active in Stockholm. She has worked in visual design and graphic design for a decade. This has taken place in close collaboration with the artist Aia Jüdes, for example with the internationally touring exhibition Next Level Craft and the current Craft Rituals at the Textile Museum in Borås, among other things. Her continuous collaborations with musicians have led to both graphic design of album covers and artistic designs for performances in the music scene.

In the constellation defyra (Sanna Haverinen, Anna Hjert, Lena Thak Karlsson and Anna Lång) she carried out scenographic projects, innovative furniture and product design, curated exhibitions and events (2001-2009) for eight years. Most of the group’s collective work took place on an international stage, mainly Japan and Korea, but also the United States and countries around Europe. The group participated in the National Museum’s acclaimed exhibition Concept Design (2005) and defyra are also represented at the National Museum with the work Wood Lamp.

Haverinen’s work is often described as dreamy, with references to memories, they express an inherent power in being human. Her special working method, based on traditional screen-printing technology, generates unique prints instead of series of repetitive copies. With a wide repertoire, she moves freely between pencil drawing and ink painting to expressions in watercolor and on to digital media and graphics. The working method always relates to the context.

OCCUPATION?
I work with visual design in various forms: as a designer, aesthetic problem solver and visual storyteller.
WHAT DOES FIBER MEAN TO YOU?
Survival. Textile fibers are perhaps the only thing we humans depend on, and yet we waste resources. Especially we in the northernmost hemisphere would die already on the first day of the year without protective layers on our body. A little humbleness would be in order.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE TEXTILE FIBER OR TECHNIQUE?
Screen-printing and hand-printing have affected my colour vision and my entire way of working on image production. Despite this, I am fond of materials and techniques that are perhaps mainly used in advertising or industry: to use and influence them through craft methods. There is an antagonistic relationship there that has made me develop a deep love-hate of digital printing, because of course I do not want it to be the death of hand-printing. It is impossible to turn a blind eye to the progress that has been made in a short time, not least in terms of colour reproduction. But nothing beats the effect of chance and inspiration in the artistic making when one mixes one’s own colour, fails and discovers something new.
WHAT IS YOUR MOST VIVID TEXTILE MEMORY?
I literally get sick from multicoloured and well-assorted fabric stores, the impressions become too strong for me and my innards. Countless are the occasions I have had to abort and take a break, it has happened in London, Paris, New Delhi as well as Sundbyberg. But I always come back with new strength.

FIND OUT MORE:
http://www.sannahaverinen.com/