BROCKTON, MASS.- For thousands of years, our surroundings have inspired creative practice. The influence of place can be particularly profound in craft-based work as makers often use indigenous materials. Ceramists work with locally dug clay. Basket weavers harvest native sweet grass. Wood turners obtain material from their own backyard. Celebrated Danish artist Grethe Wittrock masterfully follows this venerable tradition with regionally sourced fibers, offering new perspectives on place, heritage, and materiality.

In her first U.S. solo exhibition, Nordic Currents, Wittrock articulates both the pristine beauty of her native Denmark and the northern climate that has long challenged resident species, both man and beast. Her most recent sculptural installation consists of bird-like constructions made from ships’ sails sourced by Wittrock from Danish yachtsmen. Her use of reclaimed material in this way metaphorically aligns the experiences of her sea-faring ancestors with those of migrating birds that inhabit the Nordic coastline, referencing their shared reliance on the natural elements for survival. The narrative element is further developed as the weathered sails reveal their distinct histories, each wrinkle marking a storied and windswept past.

While additional points of departure for Wittrock include Japanese craft traditions, the Renaissance masters Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Dürer, and her own wanderlust, significant meaning also lies in her process. She has used ancient techniques throughout her career to develop her powerful forms: knotting, braiding, paper manipulation, dying, and fabric deconstruction. This meditative approach reflects her ardent devotion to the raw material and to celebrating the forms within.

Grethe Wittrock was born in Denmark. She began her artistic career as an apprentice to Danish weaver Anette Juel and then went on to study at the Institute of Industrial Design at Danmarks Designskole in Copenhagen where she graduated in 1992. She traveled to Japan in 1990 to study traditional textile printmaking techniques at the Kyoto Seika University, College of Fine Art. While she was there, she worked with local paper-spinners and developed an interest in paper weaving that deeply impacted her career.

Wittrock's work has been exhibited throughout the world in cities such as Copenhagen, London, Munich, Hong-Kong, Paris, Sao Paolo, and Kyoto. She has won numerous international awards, including multiple grants from the Danish Art Foundation. Much of the work for Nordic Currents was created at the Danish Art Workshops in Copenhagen and subsequently at her studio in Washington, D.C. where she has been living since January of 2015. The Danish Art Foundation and The Danish Art Workshops have made Grethe Wittrock: Nordic Currents possible through their generous support.

“Working with huge weather-beaten sails gives me a lot of stories, stories that I do not find in a completely new fabric. Like a face gets wrinkled over time, the sail is also full of lines and wrinkles and scars.” – Artist Grethe Wittrock