Gold Medalist Portfolios

The Snail

With its Silver Trail, says follow me.

But slowly,

There is so much to see.

• anonymous

Since 2016, I have been engaged in Norwegian Bandweaving (Baltic pick-up) through classes, research, and self-study on back-straps and a vertical rigid heddle loom. My technique utilizes Norwegian traditional cultural symbols recorded by Norwegian historians, as well as my own design. I weave to create bands to communicate meaning with Norwegian symbols (that I call emojis) to impact the wearer. When weaving, time is unimportant. Just as a snail is unconcerned with time, the weaver may only optimistically hope to weave at the rate of one inch per hour on a 13-string pick-up rope.

My fiber is woven on a hand-crafted loom created by Olav Rue – a goat-herder in West Telemark Norway. The loom is the only one known to exist on this continent. I met my loom in Telemark, Norway, and then learned to weave on it. As I weave, I honor the traditional weaving variables of fiber selection, process, technique, color, number, repetition, length, and selvage. The materials for the band are wool and cotton. I author a pattern that uses historic symbols and explores techniques. The bands connect a commonality of superstition and folklore to bind items of importance. Examples of the use of bands include decorative placement on traditional garments, protection for the wearer, creating family heirlooms (the ribbons gain strength when they are passed to the next generation), and a non-verbal method of familial or regional identification. Even though I have created art all my life in various mediums, I believe band weaving chose me. Weaving bands is an artistic and tactile method to celebrate my family’s Norwegian heritage, as well as perpetuate a UNESCO Red List (in danger of extinction) folk technique.

In the past 10 years, I have demonstrated bandweaving at Scandinavian cultural events across the United States. Highlights include a 2025 demonstration at the Norwegian embassy in Washington, D.C., as well as a weaving presentation and conversation with His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon of Norway during his visit to Vesterheim in Decorah, Iowa. As a fellow of the American Scandinavian Institute, this August 2026, I will study band weaving in Norway with three master bandweavers who are published authors and who have a matrilineal legacy of weaving, dating back 300 years. Ever so slowly, inch-by-inch, I will ply my knowledge with theirs to ensure that band weaving survives for generations to come.