Estelle Bourdet
JOSTEDAL, NORWAY
With a sensitivity and reverence to her surroundings and the age-old traditions of weaving, Estelle Bourdet creates original hand-woven textiles from her studio in Norway.
SWISS-BORN ESTELLE BOURDET’S INFLUENCE TOOK ROOT DURING CHILDHOOD SUMMERS SPENT BY THE COAST OF HÄLSINGLAND. AFTER STUDYING FINE ARTS IN THE PRESTIGIOUS ÉCOLE CANTONALE D’ART DE LAUSANNE IN SWITZERLAND, ESTELLE MOVED TO ÖLAND, SWEDEN TO SPECIALISE IN WEAVING AT CAPELLAGÅRDEN, SCHOOL OF HANDICRAFTS. SHE NOW WORKS FROM HER STUDIO IN JOSTEDAL, NORWAY, HAND-WEAVING RUGS AND WALL-HANGINGS WITH INSPIRATION FROM HER SURROUNDINGS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE.
Estelle's first encounters with crafts
BORN TO A SWEDISH MOTHER AND SWISS FATHER, ESTELLE BOURDET GREW UP IN A SMALL ALPINE VILLAGE IN THE FRENCH-SPEAKING REGION OF SWITZERLAND. SHE DEVELOPED A SPECIAL CONNECTION WITH THE OUTDOORS FROM A YOUNG AGE, SPENDING HER TIME SKIING, TREKKING AND MOUNTAIN CLIMBING IN THE SURROUNDING LANDSCAPES OF HER HOMESTEAD.
CHILDHOOD-SUMMERS WERE SPENT AT THE FAMILY'S SUMMER HOUSE BY THE COAST OF HÄLSINGLAND, SWEDEN, WHERE ESTELLE'S GREAT-GRANDMOTHER ALSO RESIDED AND WOVE RUGS AND TABLECLOTHS FOR THEIR HOME. HER RELATIVE'S CRAFTWORK — AS WELL AS THE RICH CULTURAL FOLK HERITAGE OF HÄLSINGLAND — FUELLED ESTELLE'S OWN FASCINATION WITH TEXTILES AND FIBRES. FROM AN EARLY AGE SHE STARTED COLLECTING FABRICS AND YARN, AND CARRYING THESE WITH HER, ESTELLE WOULD SEW OR CROCHET WHILE AT SCHOOL OR ON-THE-GO.
ESTELLE STUDIED FINE ARTS AT ÉCOLE CANTONAL D’ART DE LAUSANNE IN 2011, FOLLOWED BY FURTHER STUDIES AT DIE HOCHSCHULE LUZERN AND CAPELLAGÅRDEN, SCHOOL OF HANDICRAFTS IN SWEDEN. DURING THE LATTER, ESTELLE ESTABLISHED HERSELF ON ÖLAND, WHERE SHE ALSO WAS PREOCCUPIED WITH SPENDING TIME OUTDOORS ON AND AROUND THE ISLAND. HERE SHE BEGAN EXPLORING NATURAL DYEING OF FABRICS WITH PLANT EXTRACTS AND ENGAGED IN A ONE-YEAR COURSE IN ECOLOGICAL GARDENING.
“Weaving is part of my daily life, it tends towards a way of life where things are mixed, built, cultivated, harvested, woven, worn, climbed, used and reused.”
ESTELLE SUBSEQUENTLY SET UP A SMALL STUDIO IN BERGA, SWEDEN, WHERE SHE ESTABLISHED HER OWN WEAVING PRACTICE. SHE CURRENTLY RESIDES IN JOSTEDAL, NORWAY, WHERE SHE CONTINUES TO EXPLORE AND COMBINE CRAFT AND NATURE.
IT IS PRECISELY HER SENSITIVITY AND REVERENCE TO HER CRAFT AND SURROUNDINGS THAT ECHO IN HER WEAVINGS TODAY.
Estelle´s premise and creative process
ESTELLE ALWAYS LOOKS THROUGH HER ASSORTED COLLECTION OF TEXTILES AS PART OF THE CREATIVE PROCESS, WHEN SHE BEGINS A NEW PROJECT. THE COLLECTION HOLDS MANY MEMORIES DATING BACK TO HER EARLY CHILDHOOD AS WELL AS PIECES FROM RECENT TRAVELS OR RESEARCH, AND SERVES AS AN ETERNAL SOURCE OF INSPIRATION, AS OLD PIECES OFTEN ARE INCORPORATED OR IN OTHER WAYS COME TO GUIDE THE CREATIVE DIRECTION.
“Craftsmanship is to me mainly a reverence to time and knowledge. It is all kind of things: it is traditions, gestures, culture, heritage, gatherings and dialogues but it is also a way of creating new ideas and new ways of living.”
THE ANALOGUE TECHNIQUES ARE THEN MIXED WITH DIGITAL DESIGN, AS ESTELLE SKETCHES HER IMPRESSIONS ON HER COMPUTER TO MAKE THEM PALPABLE FOR THE MEDIUM OF TEXTILE. THESE COMPUTER-GENERATED MAPPINGS ALLOW HER TO EXPLORE HER REPERTOIRE OF COLLECTED EXPERIENCE, WHILST STILL LEAVING ROOM FOR IMAGINATION IN THE TECHNICAL PROCESS OF CREATION. THE WEAVING TECHNIQUE SUBSEQUENTLY DRAWS ON THE GENERATIONS-OLD TRADITIONS OF RAG RUGS WHERE FABRIC IS TORN INTO NARROW STRIPS AND WOVEN, CREATING DURABLE AND BEAUTIFUL MATS THAT TRADITIONALLY EMBELLISH HOMES AND BECOME FAMILY HEIRLOOMS.
THE WEAVING PROCESS IS LONG-LASTING AND ARDUOUS, BUT PROVIDES ESTELLE WITH A MEDITATIVE SPACE OF FREE-THINKING AND REFLECTION ON OUR CULTURE AND WAYS OF LIFE.
“Working with such an ancestral technique as weaving gives you the possibility to both look into the past and the future and reflect on the way things are. It makes it possible to change what needs to be changed and to carry on what needs to be carried on.”
HER PIECES TAKE APPROXIMATELY THIRTY-SIX TO FORTY-EIGHT HOURS TO COMPLETE AND ARE A MIX OF WEFT- AND WARP THREADS OF HANDMADE DYES, REPURPOSED COTTON BEDSHEETS AND TWINNED COTTON THREADS, MAKING THEM BOLD, SUSTAINABLE AND ORIGINAL.