Trådar/Threads

Trådar/Threads is an exhibit by Minnesota artist Amy Sands. It consists of two series of prints. The Bunad series consists of 20 framed polymer photogravure prints of close-ups of historical bunad at the Osterøy Museum in Norway. This series will be on display Sept. 7, 2024 through June 23, 2025. The Portal series integrates historical photographs from the Tekstilindustrimuseet and patterns from the textiles collection of the Osterøy Museum, creating an intersection between handwork and the textile industry. This series will be on exhibit Sept. 7, 2024 through March 31, 2025.

Sands will give an exhibit talk on Sept. 7 at 2pm.

Transforming the photographs into a fish-eye lens perspective and printing them as archival pigment prints on paper transports the viewer back in time, honoring those who paved the way for the textiles industry. Sands added lace pattern borders sourced from the Osterøy collection that are drawn by hand and embellished with embroidery and beads, referencing the labor of handiwork as a means of both love and survival, serving both the family and a means of trade. They were symbols of life at home and became skills that were passed down from generation to generation, yet through the industrial revolution and invention of machinery, these skills quickly transformed into a prominent way to earn a living. This series honors and recognizes this labor of love. As Sands states, “This exhibit draws meaning from the word thread in both a literal sense of the materials explored as well as the symbol of cultural heritage and family.”

This activity is funded in part by grants from the Lake Region Arts Council thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and through general operating grants from the FM Area Foundation, and The Arts Partnership with support from the Cities of Fargo, Moorhead, and West Fargo.