KUSTAA SAKSI || Explore Textile Masterpieces at the Surreal ‘Borderlands’ Exhibition at Vandalorum
Vandalorum proudly presents the first solo museum exhibition in Sweden by the prominent Amsterdam-based artist and designer Kustaa Saksi.
The exhibition Borderlands offers an extensive overview of Saksi's textile work from the past decade, featuring over 20 large-scale jacquard-woven pieces displayed in an installation created specifically for Vandalorum. The scenography is designed by Lauri Johansson, with an accompanying soundscape by Marko Nyberg and a film by David Verbeek.
Kustaa Saksi. Aftermath-(2018), First-Symptoms-series. Photo: MiiaPanula
Saksi's work delves into the moments between reality and the surreal, dreams and wakefulness, sanity and madness. His pieces draw from personal experiences of migraine, general hallucinatory visions, and mythical narratives, reflecting his fascination with the human brain and its unique ability to process sensory information in innovative and unexpected ways.
The versatility of yarn as a medium is central to Saksi’s work. He starts with a sketch that he then brings to TextielLab in Tilburg. Using software, every shape and colour in the sketch is assigned a specific texture (from materials like mohair, wool, cotton, silk, and viscose to rubber, copper, and polyester) before weaving begins. The result is a blend of intricate woven layers.
Images clockwise from top left:
1. Kustaa Saksi. Sinbad (2021), Mythology series. Photo: Jussi Puikkonen
2. Kustaa Saksi. Hind (2021), Mythology series. Photo: Jussi Puikkonen
3. Kustaa Saksi. Proteus (2021), Mythology series. Photo: Jussi Puikkonen
The jacquard loom, invented by Joseph-Marie Jacquard in early 19th-century France, enabled the automatic production of complex patterns. Originally controlled by punched cards, the historic loom was an early model for modern computers. Today’s digital jacquard weaving allows for rapid changes, and Saksi has likened his process to "action painting with warp and weft."
Kustaa Saksi (b. 1975 in Kouvola, Finland, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands) trained as a graphic designer at the Lahti Design Institute. He has exhibited at venues including the Design Museum Helsinki, V&A in London, and Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. He has completed commissions for fashion houses such as Hermès, Ferragamo, Issey Miyake, Nike, and Marimekko. Recently, Saksi was named Guest Creative for the 2025 Stockholm Furniture Fair, for which he designed the fair’s visual identity.
The exhibition, a collaboration with the Design Museum Helsinki, will be on view from November 16th, 2024, to May 11th, 2025.
