Anna Wæhrens: POTATO PRESS PASS

TABLEAU presents POTATO PRESS PASS, a solo exhibition by Anna Clarisse Holck Wæhrens.

The exhibition is based on two years of research in dyeing and printing with natural materials and pigments. The project consists of 5 textile works, mostly silk but also linen and cotton. Each work consists of small pieces of textile, sewn together with different prints and colours.

Anna uses dried flowers and high acid plants like roses, hydrangeas and ranunculus to create her pigments. Depending on the fabric structure and its treatment before the dyeing process, she can achieve a new result for each steaming. Plant waste and flowers are collected from various shops. In doing so, the artist uses residual waste for printing. The fabrics are all printed and coloured by Anna through various techniques – primarily dyeing with plants, but with a few stickers blocking or sending the prints in one direction.

Some of the prints have been hidden away for years and reused for this particular occasion – as an artist hides his sketches that could potentially become art works one day. Anna saved all her clips in an attempt to add value to it for the future. Playing puzzles with all the pieces is one of the main perks of the project.
This rapid process has created associations to potato printing and a more naïve approach to crafts – hence the exhibition title.

Different tactile surfaces meet each other in a simple stitch. The weight of the material is balanced between the saturation of colour and the perception of the print. Contrasts meet: thick meets fine and elegant, light meets dark and dramatic.

The surface stimulates the viewers, inviting them to touch it and come closer. When the viewer approaches, the art work moves as sheets on a drying line or curtains in a pull-through home. Questions start popping: which plant has been used for this print? What is the story behind this piece of fabric?

Kilde: TABLEAU