2351) "Organic Art", Faroe Islands: : Posta/Postverk Foroya (Postal Works of the Faroe Islands) has issued a set of six Stamps of 29.00 DKK (x 3 Stamps) and 19.00 DKK (x 3 Stamps) depicting Organic Art by three artists in the Faroes: Date of Stamp set issue: 16.05.2022:
FAROE ORGANIC ART:
About Organic Art:
The present stamp series features artwork by three artists, each - in their own way with their own technique and material - creating significant artwork, attached to Faroese Nature and Faroese Material.
Faroese Art usually makes presentations of nature and of villages. However, in these works, nature itself is the material, and the viewer experiences the works, smelling flowers, wool and seaweed. The soft and the slippery, the strong and sharp, the scarlet and the bottle green.
Weaving, knitting, sewing and embroidering are art-forms dating thousands of years back, most often underestimated and overlooked.
But presently, Art is undergoing a sea-change.
Last autumn there was an exhibition in Klaksvík with woven art, in which these three women artists were represented.
It is now trendy that artists should use local materials, and take care to recycle and protect nature – through their art.
Jórunn, Astrid and Tita all represent such a trend.
Astrid Andreasen (b. 1948):
In her work life as a scientific assistant Astrid was closely connected to nature. She is exceptional among her peers in her very precise attention to detail, as can be seen in her drawings of insects, fish and plants.
Many public institutions are adorned with Astrid’s work, as is the church in Vestmanna where Astrid has created the altar piece.
Astrid is also proficient at embroidery and knitting, which is one of the techniques used in the two sculptural works featured here.
There is also a social angle to Astrid’s work – toil on sea and land and people.
The "Sweaters" (Babyboom 1997) is a very symbolic piece of art, representative of the people, future generations, Faroese handicraft and Faroese material. And the sweaters are all knitted together into one giant garment, the way everyone is interconnected.
The other piece "A Year’s Work (Ársverk 2010)" – an old oar with a long, knitted rope, which is one year – 365 metres – long, and a spindle full of spun yarn.
The oar was made in Vestmanna in the 1940s and is now part of a work of art. The oar, the rope and the yarn, an account of the lifesaving work of the Faroese. The piece is a celebration and recognition of the resilience and the toil at sea and on land in the Faroes.
There is an epic quality to both works, offering details and stories for the viewer.
Jórunn D. Poulsen (b.1949):
Jórunn Dánialsdóttir Poulsen has undergone consistent development since she began working with art in the seventies, and the development and change goes on, shifting from figurative to non-figurative and back to figurative.
From patchwork to sewn pictures via applied art and recycling, the latter excellently performed in the cushions preserving old embroidery, which women have spent hundreds of hours on. As a teacher Jórunn has created a basis under the works of several artistic people in the Faroes.
The works shown here are - one embroidered picture (2021) featuring red flowers on brightly green stalks and one sewn picture (2011) featuring pale red flowers on yellow stalks. Incentive red and calming green on one and on the other dramatic colour splendour and heat.
The hand-embroidered picture with the common sorrels with its plump French knots forming the relief of the flowers acquires depth by the reflection below the flowers, making the picture come alive, and the black background draws out the motif.
Although the sewn picture is 10 years old, it is very relevant.
The fiery yellow and red waves almost overwhelming the blue sky, and the roses stretching out from deep water into the fire lend lots of motion and atmosphere.
The particular technique makes the background vibrant with its small wrinkles, crossed by machine stitching. One can almost hear the fire crackling and roaring.
There is a sensuous poetic quality to both pictures.
Tita Vinther (1941-2019):
Tita was awarded a national prize (Mentanarvirðisløn landsins) in 2005, and she was posthumously honoured when one of the machines in the Atlantic Airways fleet was named Tita in her memory.
Both her choice of material and her motifs are ground-breaking. Tita became known for weaving horsehair and human hair together with wool, and many people were staggered to learn that human hair was part of her works. But somehow the material becomes the message, people are included into the piece as a part of the great whole.
The works by Tita included in this series are sculptural. Indeed, many of her works are just that, standing or hanging in mid-air in order to make use of space and light. Her technique is primarily weaving, but she also used binding and knotting.
The piece "Roots" (Røtur 1982) consist of brown rope, wound with homespun yarn. Very lifelike roots writhing hither and thither and downwards, they even seek to get out of the picture. The background is woven stripes in yellow and brown nuances, just like the basis of all of us displays different colours yielding different outcome.
The other piece is "Sea Anemones" (Sjónotur), the trunk is woven, and the beard consists of horsehair. They differ in height and colour, nuances of brown, red, yellow, and the beard is dark or light or both dark and light. The sea anemone is growing at the bottom of the sea, one of many wonders of creation.
Both works depict things which are usually hidden, on the bottom of the sea or below in the soil, a reminder that the environment which is out of sight is part of our lives as well.
The Stamps:
The six Stamps issued in the Set
The First Day Cover (FDC) shows Organic Art at left bottom. At top right are affixed the six stamps issued in the set.
The special Cancellation Stamp/postmark is of Torshavn Post Office and shows Organic Art Materials in the centre. The Cancellation is dated - "16.05.2022".
Six First Day Covers (FDCs) bearing a single stamp each of the six variants.
Issue Date: 16.05.2022
Designer(s)/Artists: Astrid Andreasen, Jórunn D. Poulsen and Tita Vinther.
Printer: Cartor Security Printers, Franc
Process: Offset
Size: 26.18 mm x 40.00 mm
Values: 19.00 DKK (x 3 Stamps) and 29.00 DKK (x 3 Stamps)
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