Ann Cathrin November Høibo

Ann Cathrin November Høibo’s tapestries are part of a lineage of Norwegian textile art that stretches back through her mentor, Else Marie Jakobsen, in turn a pupil of Hannah Ryggen, to Frida Hansen, who established the Workshop For National Tapestry Weaving in 1892. All three were radical in their way, claiming a place for textiles as a legitimate artistic media to express social, political and personal concerns.

Working with and against these traditions, Høibo’s weavings are typically finished at a moment before they are complete. Working in an improvised way, often ignoring any regular sequence of warp and weft, she leaves threads trailing or casually bundled up. Muted earthy colours are set off by splurges of intense hues, and natural threads are counterpoised by shiny nylons and other oil-derived, highly durable looking polyesters. The interjection of other materials – like the small black spring loaded cord stoppers or clothing rails – allude to these works being part of the much wider world of the textile industry and clothes.

Where the weavings involve considerable time and labour, the salt paintings are relatively quick to make in their first instance. Utilising an alchemical recipe of Høibo’s own invention, areas of raw canvas are covered in a mixture of salt, acid and acrylic paint. This is left to cure for several days before being peeled off. The crystalline residue and delicate riverine patterns that remain are like some kind of new planetary map of her native land.

Ann Cathrin November Høibo (b. 1979) studied at Städelschule Frankfurt (2010-11), The National College of the Arts, Oslo (2009-11) and National Academy of Art and Handcraft, Oslo (2005-8). She lives and works in Kristiansand, Norway. Recent solo shows include Kristiansand Kunsthalle (2014), DREI Galerie Köln, Cologne (2014) and STANDARD (OSLO) (2012). Group shows include, Michael Thibault Gallery, L.A. (2014), White Columns New York (2013), Carl Freedman Gallery, London (2012/13). This is her first solo show at the gallery.