Austi’s works are imaginative – like a bridge between Lithuanian fairy tales and poems by William Blake. Just as Blake created his own universe through poetry, so also does Austi, through weaving. Another key aspect is her use of artificial intelligence (AI), which has developed into becoming more than a tool; it is a creative partner that expands the boundaries for what is possible. A fascination for innovation through combining algorithms with various textile crafts is one of her driving forces. Austi feeds the algorithms with images of her own handwoven works and asks them to make the works look like 16th-century Gobelin tapestries. The results are both enchanting and disturbing. The experiments challenge traditional perceptions: If a weaver materialises what the algorithms produce, what role does the machine play?
AI creates new patterns inspired by historical textiles, but it also challenges our ideas about originality and authenticity. This is carried further with the 3D-printed structures of weave bindings. In digital weaving, this is a drawing or instructions for how the warp and weft threads should be interwoven. By translating these to a 3D form, they can appear as models for future cities or for advanced computer chips. The 3D structures can be traced in the woven textiles. Symbiosis between tradition and innovation is at the core of a type of artistic research that allows magic to arise through having an ancient craft encounter new technology.
The exhibition title, Hybrid, reflects this dual quality. The results can be read as an exploration of what collaboration between a machine and an artist or craftsperson can be. Through the works, Austi seeks to showcase the tactile phenomena, explorations and discoveries that have marked her artistic practice. At the same time, she opens up for a discussion about the future of art.
Hybrid I is the first part of a larger project. Part II will be presented at the gallery KRAFT in Bergen (5 April–26 May 2024). A selection of works from the series will also be featured at the gallery F15 in Moss, in connection with the exhibition Tendenser 24(23 March–12 June 2024).
Kristina Austi (b. 1978) is a Lithuanian-born artist who lives in Bergen, Norway. In addition to working with digital weaving, she has taught fibre art at the Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design, University of Bergen, and has collaborated for several years with western Norway’s textile industry. Austi is keen to share her knowledge of textiles. Through the recently established organisation VEVFT, she works actively to create a professional milieu for digital weaving in Norway. As a result of these efforts, several young artists have recently started using digital looms in their artistic practice.
Austi has participated in numerous international group exhibitions, examples being the textile triennials in Riga (Latvia) and Lodz (Poland), the textile biennials in Rijswijk (the Netherlands), Vilnius (Lithuania), and Guimarães (Portugal), plus other exhibitions in the USA, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium and Sweden.
