Anna Olsson

Textilateljen Långgatan

Tapestry maker

©Anna Olsson

Stories told through textiles

The first pieces Anna made were woven towels
She is a trained psychologist
To Anna, weaving is a way of slowing down her mind

When Anna Olsson was about ten years old, she helped her grandmother weave rugs. Studying at Stenebyskolan near Gothenburg, part of Steneby, she deepened her knowledge with her Swedish mentor Maj-Britt Engström. Since 1999, she has been working in her own studio in Gothenburg, which she shares with six other textile artisans. Anna’s career as a psychologist supports her weaving and even inspires some of her designs, although she initially tried to avoid her work ending up in her loom. When working in a youth prison and later with refugee children, she felt she had a responsibility to be a witness to their stories as opposed to only their crimes. The very slow process of weaving is a way for Anna to process these stories.

Interview

©Anna Olsson

©Caroline Röstlund

What do you like about textiles?: I like the material, the surface; I try to let the surface, the space of my tapestry, speak in a room. If I did the same motifs and colours on paper, it would be kind of boring. But with linen it becomes beautiful magic.
Why did you choose tapestry weaving?: My mind is like popcorn – I always have a lot of images in my head. Initially I thought I was going to be a painter but working on the loom takes time, so you must think 'Is it really this picture that is important for me?'. In doing so, it forces my mind to focus.
What don't most people realise about weaving?: It is very technical and similar to mathematics, a topic I always liked in school. The Jacquard loom developed in France in the early 19th century to make looms more performative and create complex patterns; it was the basis of the first computer!
What does 'well made' mean to you?: In a way I think it is about honesty – it is important that craftspeople create for themselves. I do what is important to me, not what people want me to do. In order to be able to weave, I do a lot of things to support myself, like working as a psychologist a few days a week.

Anna Olsson is an expert artisan: she began her career in 1995