AN EXHIBITION OF MATERIAL SENSIBILITY IN DIALOGUE WITH THE MUSEUM’S COLLECTION
NIKOLINE LIV ANDERSEN: The Eternal Smile
Enter a floating, dreamlike landscape of extraordinary works by textile and clothing artist Nikoline Liv Andersen. This exhibition reflects on the course of life itself, while opening a dialogue with Designmuseum Danmark’s rich collection.
Nikoline Liv Andersen’s works revolve around the shifting phases of life, each bringing new challenges and experiences, and the cycle from love and fertility to the first tender sprout, through autumn and inevitable decay. Through imaginative narratives, she translates these themes into fabulous embroidered images. In her universe, nature is always present. Humanity is nature, even if, as Nikoline Liv Andersen suggests, we tend to forget this in our modern existence.
Created with time-consuming techniques of embroidery, weaving, knitting, and other textile crafts, her works are both a celebration of craftsmanship and an ongoing exploration of life, modern motherhood, and mortality.
The exhibition unfolds as an airy, immersive installation. Light, embroidered, and painted textiles envelop visitors in a cohesive, spiritual landscape, where stories of human life are traced from beginning to end. These themes are echoed in objects from Designmuseum Danmark’s collection, placed in dialogue with Andersen’s textile works.
The exhibition is supported by the Jørgen Kryger and Anne Ammitzbøll Foundation. The museum would also like to thank the Lagerkvist family for their permission to use the title of Pär Lagerkvist’s novel, The Eternal Smile.