Nikola Woudstra

The space between the mountains is an installation following my persistent longing for mountains and a visit to an abandoned factory.

 

My homesickness translates to need for spaciousness. The view of faraway mountains guarding the landscape kept repeating in the back of my mind, the shape smoothed by memory into an abstraction of a valley.

 

During a clandestine visit to an abandoned textile factory in Croatia, I took all kinds of artefacts that were left behind. Diving into the archives, I learnt about the modus operandi of factories, amongst which the utilising of red threads to mark mistakes. I took this notation system to draw closer attention to the already slow process of handweaving.

 

The 16 metre damask is surrounded by the sounds made while weaving and excerpts from different writings, next to videos in which I am winding the warp used in the weaving.

 

Cloth stretching and winding, words repeated and rhythmic, movement familiar and slow.