KRISTINE FORNES

All That Is Lost

6 November - 21 December 2025

Kristine Fornes expresses herself through textile dyeing techniques and embroidery. Her visual language has been developed through exploration of color techniques, and the works often challenge conventional ideas of what embroidery can be. Textile traditions and the origins of materials become a natural part of the narrative, reflecting on history, harmony with nature, and how these resonate throughout current times. Fornes’ practice is a professional, philosophical, and artistic investigation into how textiles embody cultural and historical meaning. Two skeins of tussah silk she bought from India were transported back to the Indian city of Bagru, where artisans washed and dyed the silk with indigo and madder – the earliest known natural pigments. She began to trace the sources of the colors and explore their origins and meanings.

The materials, techniques, and colors Fornes work with have all traveled the Silk Road. This insight forms the foundation of her exhibited works. Fornes seeks to challenge and expand the understanding of textile art and the ability and power of textiles to connect cultures. Past and present are bound together in a continuous dialogue. What has been lost in this dialogue?

Color, as both phenomenon and language, speaks across cultures and through time. It inspires, transforms, and connects. Fornes’ textile works contextualize the intricate exchange of culture, ideas, knowledge, and stories across centuries and borders—and the central role of textiles within this exchange.

Kristine Fornes (b. 1971, Longyearbyen) holds degrees from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts and Bergen Academy of Arts and Design. She lives and works in the Artist Housing Colony at Bøler. Over the past two decades, her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at venues including SOFT Gallery, Buskerud Art Center, Trafo Kunsthall, Kunstgarasjen, and Dropsfabrikken. Her works are represented in the collections of KORO (Public Art Norway), KODE, Nordenfjeldske Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, and the National Museum.

The exhibition is supported by Arts and Culture Norway.