Yarn artist Liisa Hietanen reimagines the everyday world through her life-sized knitted and crocheted sculptures. In a series of ambitious textile projects, she has created replicas of her fellow villagers in Hämeenkyrö, Finland. Hietanen uses metal armatures as her base and then covers them in a combination of crafting techniques; what results are figures that have an uncanny, life-like quality. From afar, you can hardly tell they were crafted from a spun fiber.
If you need any proof that Hietanen is adept at capturing likenesses, look no further than her sculpture of a woman walking her dog. In an incredible photo, the real lady and her art twin stand side by side. Hietanen recreated the woman’s hat, black-rimmed glasses, patterned sweater, and even her long-haired pooch in nearly perfect detail.
Hietanen uses her artistic techniques—particularly the monotonous acts of knitting and crocheting—as a form of thinking. “[The approaches are] continuous and present and allows a portrait to slowly find its character,” she writes in an artist statement. When complete, the figures symbolize shared experience, even among acquaintances. “I meet the same familiar strangers every day on the street and our common world is the size of a small village. I am depicting the present moment by portraying my own surroundings, but at the same time I am bringing out something common to us all.”
Yarn artist Liisa Hietanen creates life-like portraits of people living in her village in Hämeenkyrö, Finland. The similarities are uncanny.
She's working on more villagers, too.
Liisa Hietanen: Website | Instagram
h/t: [Laughing Squid]
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