Swedish textile artist Diana Orving creates beautifully delicate and sculptural installations and pieces in subtle tones that convey movement and emotion. “I use form and movement to both express and understand states of mind, relationships, mental and physical processes.”

Firstly where did you grow up and where do you live now?

I grew up in Stockholm, Sweden, and this is where I am based now. 

What is your background in textiles?

I am self-taught. I grew up in a creative home surrounded by my mother’s fabrics, sewing machines and looms. My mother is an artist and during my childhood she worked a lot with textiles so I was always surrounded by her materials. She let me use her colours, fabrics and sewing-machine from an early age and it became a natural way for me to experiment and express myself through creating. I started to make clothes for myself and my friends and when I was a teenager I started to sell my clothes in alternative fashion-boutiques and later started my own brand. I worked with my fashion-line and costume-design for many years and combined it with making sculptural art installations. I enjoyed the creative part of the work but the fast pace of fashion and the industry itself was spiritually draining for me. I always felt more true to myself and in my right element when working with art. So a few years ago I decided to leave fashion and invest all my time in creating art.

What is it about textiles as an art form that appeals to you?

I am quite obsessed with the tactile and sensual qualities of textiles. For me memories and feelings are closely connected to tactile sensations.

Working with my hands being in close contact with the material at hand is a kind of meditation to me. A repetitive ritual in assembling unique pieces bit by bit. The tactility sharpens my senses and keeps me present.

What techniques do you use?

Since I don´t have any formal education I developed my own techniques. I combine hand stitching with machine stitching. Some of the works I paint with a brush and oil paint, I think of it as a kind of lighting where I choose to highlight certain parts and details of the work.

 I usually use fabrics that I process in different ways and make my own dyes and wash them in different ways to obtain a specific texture.

How do you describe your work ?

I understand form through my hands and find my way to the intersection where feeling and thought meet. I use form and movement to both express and understand states of mind, relationships, mental and physical processes. I work choreographically with my sculptures and I think that the sculpture can portray a relationship, a conflict, a fear or a longing. It can represent something that I don’t have words for but that I want to immerse myself in. A theme of interconnectedness, how one is not a solitary but part of a system, that one is a small part of something bigger.

How do you create a piece?

My creative process is heavily influenced by improvisation and intuition – a kind of choreography onto itself. I start small, assemble, cut the next piece of the puzzle, sew, wander astray, resist and yield. Discover a new shape that guides me on the way forward. The sculpture grows bit by bit in a chain reaction that reminds me of dancing. My passion for dance comes from many years of training in classical ballet and modern dance. My interest for expression through movement comes alive in my sculptures. The textile make the sculptures transformable so it is like creating a new movement and shape every time I install a sculpture in a new space. 

Some of your pieces are really large, do you have a big studio?

My studio is quite large but never large enough. My creations tend to fill the space and I have to imagine them in more spacious environments with generous ceiling-height.

The lightness of the textiles has made it possible for me to work on a large scale. The sculptures are almost weightless yet monumental. The monumentality and sometimes massive formats fascinates me. I find myself creating the conditions needed for me to lose control and be overpowered by my creations. In the loss of control, something exciting arises, the uncertain, unpredictable attracts me. There is a special state in the loss of control, a mixture of deep concentration, capitulation and curiosity. The element of submission is essential in my practice. I create these large scale volumes. The larger they grow, the less in control am I. It is almost like creating a new organism that force me to cross boundaries and limitations.

I know this is a hard question but how long does a bigger piece take?

My small pieces can take a day to create but my larger works could take months. Usually I work on a few pieces simultaneously. I paint a new layer on a painting, dye fabric for a new sculpture or remake something old in a new context.

What are you most proud of in your art career so far?

In 2021 I had a solo show at Varbergs Konsthall in Sweden. It was my most extensive show so far and I really challenged myself and found new directions in my work. 

(video from installing the exhibition https://www.dianaorving.com/narmanden-varbergs-konsthall-2021-video  )

Do you have any advice for aspiring textile artists?

Spend many hours on your work. Think about what the work means to you and why it is important  for you to create rather than what people will think about you, your art, if you will reach success or not. I think it is more difficult for young people today because they are so used to get immediate reactions and reward through social media. I think it is very important as an artist to be able to find your own mental space where you are not depending on what others think about you.

www.dianaorving.com

https://www.instagram.com/dianaorving/

Diana’s work can be viewed at her solo-show at Tempesta Gallery, Milan. until 24th of February 2023

www.tempestagallery.com

https://www.instagram.com/tempestagallery/