Materials: Crocheted fishing line with the diameter of 1.00 mm

Size: From 25 x 25 x 15 cm to 80 x 50 x 50 cm

Year: 2026

Placement:  Concert Hall & City Theatre of Helsingborg, Sweden

Photos: Martin Billberg

About the work: Cocoons is an installation of spheres made in fishing line in the diametre of 1 mm. The fishing line is crocheted by hand and every cocoon measures from 25 x 25 x 15 cm up to 80 x 50 x 50 cm.The cocoons were installed at the Concert Hall and the City Theatre in Helsingborg during the event Drömljus (Dream Light) in February 2026. Each cocoon was lit by a lamp of multiple leds from beneath.

On Saturday the 15th of November at 1-4 pm, the exhibition “Shedding Skin” will open at Galleri Skelderhus in Munka Ljungby in the South of Sweden. The exhibition will be open every Saturday and Sunday until the 14th of December at 11 am – 4 pm, or according to agreement. Welcome!

About the exhibition:

“Some reptiles shed their skin to grow and renew themselves, some insects create cocoons when they undergo a change or transformation. In my exhibition “Shedding Skin” I have knitted fishing line into long strips that hang from the ceiling. Like snake skins left over after molting, the strips mark the remains of a process of change. The strips form transparent grids and fishing line is a grateful light material, which is here installed with a special lighting setup. In my works, there is often a wordless communication where the beautiful and slow emerge, similar to light phenomena in nature that constantly change and at the same time return in seasonal and daily rhythms. “Shedding Skin” is about the membranes between the inner and the outer, and about the desire to, like a reptile, create a new boundary between the self and the outside world.”

Art work “Cumulus”

Type of work: Larger light installation

Materials: Crocheted fishing line in the diameter of 1.00 mm

Size: 3,5 x 2,5 x 1,5 metres

Year: 2025

Temporary placement:  Sofiero Castle Garden, Helsingborg, Sweden

Photo: Martin Billberg (above)

About the work: During the light event Höstljus at Sofiero in Helsingborg, Sweden, a cloud of 40 km fishing line was installed. Höstljus was open between October 26th until November 9th between 4.30 and 9 pm. The 40 km fishing line is crocheted by hand by the artist and was lit into a cloud of rain and thunder in collaboration with light designer Viktor Hallonsten.

Materials: Crocheted fishing line with the diameter of 1.00 mm

Size: 60 x 45 x 30 cm

Year: 2025

Permanent placement: Spacehouse Himalayas, Garden Room

Photos: Abhishek Khedekar

About the work: “Spacehouse Cloud” is an installation with crocheted fishing line in the diameter of 1 mm installed hanging from the ceiling in the garden room of Spacehouse Himalayas. It was produced during the artist residency of 3 weeks in the same place. The material of the crocheted fishing line is like a spatial drawing of a cloud that seems to float in the air. More information about the residency can be found at Spacehousehimalayas.com/artists

Materials: Crocheted fishing line in the diameter of .45 mm

Size: Each piece between 15 and 30 cm along one side

Year: 2025

Permanent placement: Spacehouse Himalayas

Photos: Abhishek Khedekar

About the work: “Netting/nesting” is an installation with crocheted fishing line in the diameter of .45 mm in five parts installed in the pommegranate tree by the entrance of Spacehouse Himalayas. It was produced during the artist residency of 3 weeks in the same place. It had the working title “Triangular Thoughts for a Tree” and the 5 different parts interact and reflect natural light at day and artificial light at night, somewhat ressembling spiders’ nets or nests.More information about the residency can be found at Spacehousehimalayas.com/artists

Materials: Crocheted fishing line in the diameter of .45 mm

Size: 12 x 10 x 10 cm

Year: 2025

Permanent placement: Spacehouse Himalayas

Photo: Abhishek Khedekar

About the work: “Spacehouse Small Sphere” is a small object of crocheted fishing line in the diameter of .45 mm. The uneven sphere resembles a small cocoon. 3 spheres were produced during the artist residency where one sphere ended up in London in Europe and two remained in India: one in Adalaj, Gujarat and one in Spacehouse Himalayas. More information about the residency can be found at Spacehousehimalayas.com/artists

Are these elephants really cast in bronze? In Sweden, they would cost a fortune to produce!

Sunshine and clouds during Asian afternoon visavi European evening.

The stewardesses are very nicely dressed at Air India, and the flight is prolongued with two hours as we have to fly south of Pakistan due to the recent tensions.

Sunset in Copenhagen at 9 in the evening Scandinavian time. In India, it is 00.30 am and we are very sleepy. We arrive home at 3 in the morning Indian time – it is 11.30 pm in Sweden.

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Tony went for a walk at 7 am – before the heat hit. There were lots of people doing yoga in the parc at this time. An eagle sat watching.

To the right is another tomb: that of Isa Khan.

Then we went to a tomb that lay somewhat behind Humayun’s that was called the Barber’s. It had two smaller tombs and apparently no tourists as a lot of doves seemed to live in here, we opened it ourselves and there was obviously no cleaning as in the others.

We had bought tickets, that we had to show three times before entering the space of the first room, to which we were commanded by a female guard. To our surprise, there was an exhibition about mosaics from Rome. After this, we were allowed to enter the main hall, where it stunk of gasoline. The smell was poignant through-out the whole exhibition space and must have come from the traffic outside/above.

Enhance the images to read the texts below:

We guess this is for prayers, each string representing a prayer.

This is an old engraved piece with text, lit by a rectangular lamp.

Some old coins and an antiquity of pottery terracotta fragment.

These guys represent a day each in the week: Sunday is wearing yellow – day for kingdom matters and rewarding the nobles, Monday is for wearing white – day for musical entertainment and meeting old companions & friends, Tuesday is for wearing red, day for kingdom’s affairs and for holding court of justice, Wednesday is for wearing blue – day for musical entertainment and meeting friends, Thursday is for wearing violet – day for meeting with literary and religious persons, Friday is for wearing green – day for general assmebly and Saturday is for wearing black – again meeting with literary and religious persons.

Terracotta toy.

After the museum, we bought a big bottle of water as we had already finished our two other ones. Then our driver Rakish took us to a place called Art India, which was a large store with nice AC environment and we were the only costumers. Outside, there was a statue of Ganesha.

The store had a big loom where you could see how the carpets were made. The salesman is showing Tony the certificate of authenticity, and also that the carpet is only woven by adults. No children labour here, according to him.

Rakish then took us to a shop for spices and teas close-by. We were immediately offered a cup of masala tea. Tony bought half the store as I and Rakish were watching. They seemed to have everything and the packages of 100 g were far too small for our household.

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At the tailors, besides some nice garments, they would really like to sell us a rug (and we really like this one). We’ll see tomorrow…

Sweat was running down our foreheads and backs in the heat as we finally found the Shrine Art Gallery, which was some blocks away. There was a really nice woman showing us around and telling us about every artwork.

Anoli Perera

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It’s not hard to find candidates for the daily flower in the garden, the morning walks tends to be shorter than around Spacehouse though.

Some more of the garden at Lutyens.

Even here, in central Delhi, they can grow a big portion of the veggies needed for the meals.

Theatre artists and dancers are wearing masks that are often light weight as the characters have to move fast on stage.

A large wooden sculpture that depicts a mythological story of the serpent Kalia overcome by Krishna.

A male and female figure from Dhokra depicting warriors coming home with their catch.

This is Banjara embroidery made with cowrie shells.

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When we arrived at Khan market, it was closed. A very eager autorikshaw-driver took us to an open pharmacy near-by.

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This is the last morning stroll in the Himalayas, after breakfast we depart towards Delhi. Tony and Nidhi are trying to find the rest of the company who went away a little earlier. Dog was of little help in the tracking part.

Magnolias are on the way, figs as well.

Ghanshyam and Ranjeed has taken control of the chair

Dog says goodbye as we pass the gate of the Spacehouse for the last time this visit. Hopefully we will pass again in the future!

Downhill towards the road and the awaiting vehicles that will take us down the mountain to the rail station in Kathgodam/Haldwani. About a 3 hr rollercoaster in front of us!

We rolled into Kathgodam in good condition and refueled at the same restaurant as three weeks earlier.

We were settled on the train which had a pleasant AC-temperature and started the 6 hr ride to Delhi, ETA 21:00. Abhishek is ordering food on the train, where they have a whole wagon dedicated to the cooking of this food. This is why it is called IRCTC according to Emily: India Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation.

Dinner time!
Emily and Ned had taken the train before, and advised on a nice feature. You could order dinner from restaurants in towns where the train stopped, and it would be brought on the train. We tried this, and it worked perfectly!

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The “hawk-eyed” among y’all might notice the bandage on Tonys’ left index, more on that later. Anyway, the chair is now officially deemed impossible to complete before departure and Tony is joined this last full workday by the local carpenter Ranjeet who is very skilled in carpentry and will complete the chair.

Tony and Ghanshyam talk about the last amendments, as Ghanshyam is speaking English and can tell Ranjeet who has gone home for the day.

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We got another peek at the distant high peaks in the morning.

It was a warm and summery evening and we got to see the nice light design on the outside of Spacehouse.

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For Tony, today was leg day. During this part of the process, drilling the holes for the legs, there was a loud voice in Tony’s head, screaming “DO NOT FAIL HERE”.
It turned out pretty good, though.

But only three was found. The first one may have to be included. We shall see…

Not afraid of sharp objects, perfect assistant, Tony is trying to teach the cat to take care of all of the mosquitos that likes to terrorise any human who dares enter the woodshop.

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Tony scrutinised the glue line. 5 pankoras of 5 possible. Then some light scrubbing.

She then showed the women how she makes the stitching for the quilts.

Homewards again to Spacehouse with Sanjay the taxi driver, Kishan was waiting for us with umbrellas at the bottom om the climbing path uphill! After huffing and puffing some more (Joanna), we saw that Tony’s seat was beginning to assume its final shape.

Yeah, the big objective came a little closer, but the handler clearly need some lessons in
evening-mountain-photography. Hopefully the clear weather stays on until tomorrow, then those 7-8k peaks, about 80-100k to the east of us will be fully captured.

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This holy cow had a look down on the road as we passed. We were granted passage. Tiny temple outside the (cow’s?) house.

Off the main road again, we might have figured out that this “impossible” pedestrian crossing is in fact not that, but rather a warning about the crossroad ahead?

Bicycle garage in town. Serious-looking fellow makes sure they are safe.

The floating tenons are glued in one of the pieces, now marking up where to chisel out mortises on the other one.

Chopping with a hammer quickly became unbearable, hence a rapidly produced mallet from two scrap pieces of pine and red cedar. It worked like a dream.

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There was an excellent sunset as we were having cocktails on the veranda. The sun became a lively bright orange dot against the grey cloud.

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Another woman came out barefoot in the rain and showed us that they, too, had bees in the walls of the house next door to theirs. The flower relief is actually such a hole for the bees.

They also had an extra house for rent, also with a lovely view.

We then headed back with Sanjay, who has batman on the back of his car. He showed us some nice shops where we could buy local crafts and textiles.

For dinner, there was served some nice dal – lentille soup with rice and chicken.

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Below two videos of part of the local monkey gang going about their daily business.

After breakfast, it is time for Tony to find the right pieces in the wood pile, pieces that suits the templates for the various parts of the chair. Joanna is sourcing sticks of bamboo for her creations and one of the dogs is helping out by securing the perimeter regarding cats.

Some promising pieces was selected and Tony started to chisel away.

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The glades in the woods are absolutely buzzing with bees, fake-bees, butterflies and of course, mosquitos.

Those two we recognise. Feels just like home…

Tony is quite satisfied with the completion of these! Winding sticks, square, 45deg shooting board, 90deg shooting board. More scrap teak, wonderful wood to work with!

Simple jig for making tetragonal (4) –> octagonal (8) –> hexadekagonal (16).
From there, some quick sanding or scraping and the dowel/stick is round!

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The stretch into town began with following a trail up on the fringe.

Pine trees can evidently grow on pure rock.

About when we expected to reach town, this outdoor gym appeared. We decided to hang around for a while.

In town, Tony got to focused on the shopping and totally forgot about taking pictures. Hannelie got the brilliant idea that we should take a cab back. It was hot and the walk downhill with empty bags took about 1:30h and we could hear the thunder getting closer.

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Joanna started yesterday with tagging along a fourth of the way and today a third for practice.

On the way down, there are some beautiful flowers that are grown on the property.

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After yet another meal, it was time to start hands-on. As the wood workshop was not yet finished, our working space of the first day became the large marble table out front with the fantastic view and a nice shade. It was probably about 25-28 degrees Celsius in the shade.

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Here’s the gate to the property.

Our bedroom is here, on the ground floor to the right.

Behind the large windows is the kitchen/dinner place.

Our colleagues have rooms on the second floor with the balcony outside where you can see the stars through the holes in the ceiling.

As we had an afternoon siesta, some of the local wildlife decided to welcome us too!

It turned out though, that their main purpose was grabbing veggies from the garden and the gardener was soon trying to chase them off by barking loudly.

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We have been invited by Priti Rao to spend three weeks of art residency in her lovely Indian mountain home – Spacehouse Himalayas. After months of preparations with vaccines and several visa applications, Tony decided to pack only tools and almost no clothes, as we would have about 5 hours on Delhi airport to shop clothes and rest.

Though during our flight from Copenhagen, Pakistan closed their air space for all Indian air lines, so the journey suddenly became 3 hours longer.

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More information about the residency can be found at Spacehouse Himalayas Artists.

Welcome to buy my new art catalogue for 200 + 72 SKR in postage cost! Please write me an email if interested at joannathede(at)gmail(dot)com

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Collect, structure and trace. On the art of Joanna Thede

To collect, structure and trace. These are the three methods that Joanna Thede works with.

To collect, it takes time. It takes perseverance and determination. To structure, on the other hand, requires an overview and a sense of spatiality. To trace means to follow an inner voice, to search and be led by one’s longing to find and understand.

Joanna Thede’s works Recollections – Patterns and Years of Recollections (both from 2015) and Re-Trails and Re-Tales (both from 2018-2019) are clearly based on the methods of collecting, structuring and tracing. In such different materials as medicinal blister packages in aluminium, beach-found fragments in glass, metal and plastic together with braided hair – both synthetic and natural – the artist lets common and short-lived objects represent the existential dimensions of life.

Under what conditions does a person live, who is dependent on a medicine to survive? Why do we continue to poison the world’s oceans, even though the consequences are devastating? Can the status difference between natural and artificial hair tell us something about interpersonal hierarchies based on the colour of one’s skin and economy?

Another common trait in these sculptural installations is the strong impression of pattern, creating rhythm and motion. Simultaneously, a suggestive effect appears when a collection of uniform objects is joined in this way into one single, larger body. The eye thus forced to shift between, on one hand, seeing the individual part in the overall image and, on the other, grasping the large form.

In consideration of Joanna Thede’s readily use of already existing objects, her art can be described as a kind of collage. The meeting between smooth and rugged, elegant and disgusting, creates visual collisions, leading to the appearance of new possibilities of interpretation.

A hundred years ago, the artists calling themselves Dadaists and Surrealists sought precisely this kind of bewildering, contradictory experiences. In Stones and Bones (from 2020), she uses materials that evoke just these split feelings: smooth, sea-sanded stones next to skeleton parts and bone remnants from bird and fish.

The long, hand-knitted textiles in Green Reflections (from 2022) bring to mind the French-American artist Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010), who in her textile sculptures and large-scale installations embodied memories and childhood traumas in yarn and tapestry fabric.

A similar approach is used by Joanna Thede in The Way Home (1998), where an old salvaged blouse is embroidered with blood-red lines to draw the traces of the artist’s travels. Simultaneously, the sewing thread becomes a frenetic bloodstream with the heart or home as a pulsating, radiant center – a reminder of the transience of life and, perhaps, of never stopping to collect, structure and trace.

/ Linda Fagerström, freelance art critic and associate professor in Art history & visual studies at Linnæus University, Sweden

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The design is made by Andreas Nordström and photographers are Maja Kristin Nylander, Cecilia Sering and Anna Bokström, among others. The catalogue is printed by Mixi Print in Olofström and bound by Förlagshuset Nordens Grafiska in Malmö, Sweden. There is a reflective surface inside the front and back cover which are glued by hand.

Please send an email if you would like to buy one! The cost is 200 SKR and the postage cost is 72 SKR.

The address is HKP – Helsingborgs konstproduktion, Kvarnstensgatan 15, Gåsebäck, Helsingborg.

Come by for a few minutes or stay several hours! There will be drinks and snacks.

Materials: Fishing line, video projection, projector stand

Size: Approximately 1,70 x 1 x 1 metres

Year: 2023

Exhibited: Stadshusgalleriet in Laholm

Photo: Maja Kristin Nylander

About the work: “Windings” is a light installation made from 8 873 meters of fishing line in the sizes .40, .45 and .50 mm. The fishing line is crocheted by hand and wound together into a cloud-like object, which is illuminated with a looped short film of moving light. The projector is built into a plywood box. Fishing line is a grateful light material and I got the idea for the projection when the sun’s oblique October rays filtered in through the remaining foliage on the crocheted fishing line lying in a pile in the studio. Thanks to Karro Håkansson for partial help with crocheting and to Tony Petersson for making the projector stand!

Materials: Mixed acrylic and wool yarn knitted by hand, recycled wooden strips, cat hair, fishing line crocheted by hand

Size: 8 x 3 x 0,05 metres

Year: 2023

Exhibited: Stadshusgalleriet in Laholm

About the work: “Green Reflections” is an installation in five parts knitted from mixed acrylic and wool yarn and with small cocoons of cat hair wrapped in crocheted fishing line. The green parts are about 2.20 meters long and the blue 2.10-2.50 meters high. In the green ones, I’ve knitted the shapes with jagged edges and structure in the surface by randomly using knit and purl stitches higgledy-piggledy. The frames are made with recycled wood where the frames of the blue parts are laminated in strips to suit the organic shapes. The cocoons are made of red-blonde cat hair that varies between lighter and blonder, and the small nets for the cocoons are crocheted with fishing line.

The work title is a play on the word reflection, which can be both a physical reflection and a thought. In terms of the title, the work is also associated with the earlier “Reflections – Memorising Monet” as Monet’s work “Water Lilies – Green Reflections” inspired the design of that work.

Photos: Maja Kristin Nylander

Material: Ceramics

Size: 2,30 x 2,80 x 0,2 cm & 2,10 x 1 x 0,2 cm

Year: 2024

Place:  Regementsvägen 4B och 6B in Helsingborg, Sweden

About the work: In April 2023, the collaborative art work “Arbor Amorosa” was inaugurated at Stadskvarteret in Drottninghög, Helsingborg. The commissioner was Helsingborgshem and the art work was made by HKP – Helsingborgs konstproduktion with the artist members Joanna Thede, Rita Winde, Josefine Axelsson, Karin Frennesson Westblad and Rikki Winde.

“Arbor Amorosa” is made in ceramics by hand by the five artists and is installed in two passages in the residential buildings of Helsingborgshem.

Here are some images of the installation process:

Materials: Acrylic paint on concrete

Size: Approximately 22 x 6 x 5 m + 22 x 6 x 5 m (on either side of the road)

Year: 2022

Place: Gustav Adolfs gata, Gåsebäck industrial area in Helsingborg

Photo: Sarah Perfekt

About the work: In 2022, the public artwork “Gåsebäcks kulturportal” was made as a
collaboration within HKP – Helsingborgs Konstproduktion (Helsingborg’s Art Production), a studio association at Gåsebäck industrial area in Helsingborg. Five contemporary artists are the co-authors of this work: Rita Winde, Karin Frennesson Westblad, Josefine Axelsson, Rikki Winde and Joanna Thede. The idea for the work came from crocheted granny squares where all five artists each made a pattern template which was then painted on the walls in a grid like a quilt. The north and the south sides of the portal each contains a caryatid, a female figure that appears to be holding up parts of the traffic bridge above.

Welcome to the exhibition “Vindlingar och spår (Windings and Traces) – knitted art works and light installations” in Stadshusgalleriet in Laholm running through March until April 15th.

Exhibition text: “The artist Joanna Thede works with installations where light often is one of the main materials. She also often recycles materials that are otherwise discarded or hidden away – such as trash, used blister packages and cut-off hair – that turn into narratives of our time and the traces we leave behind. For the exhibition at Stadshusgalleriet, she has also made knitted art works.

Joanna Thede has made several art works for public spaces, among others at The Preschool Vallmon in Laholm. The work “Spring Twig” from 2022 is placed indoors and consists of a light sculpture with leaf drawings of attached plexiglass pieces that can change colour in various rhythms, that the children themselves are able to choose.”

Here you will find the opening hours of the exhibition. Welcome!

Joanna Thede arbetar med installationer av återanvänt material. Det vi annars slänger eller gömmer undan – skräp, använda pillerkartor eller avklippt hår – blir i Thedes installationer berättelser om vår samtid och de spår vi lämnar efter oss.

Thede hämtar inspiration från skuggspel och ljusfenomen i naturen, samt de ljusa punkter som uppstår i mörker. Hon tilldelas Emil Olssons bidrag för sin känsla och förmåga att sinnligt materialisera samtidens flyktighet.

Translation:

Joanna Thede works with installations of recycled material. What we otherwise throw or hide away – trash, used blister packages or cut-off hair – in Thede’s installations become narratives of our times and the traces we leave behind.

Thede gets inspiration from shadow plays and light phenomena in nature, as well as the bright points that arise in the dark. She is awarded the Emil Olsson grant for her feeling and ability to sensually materialize contemporary volatility.

Commissioned by: Laholm’s municipality, Sweden

Place: Vallmons preschool in the city of Laholm in Sweden

Material: Light installation

Size: 250 x 100 x 35 cm

Year: 2022

About the commission: “Spring Twig” in Laholm is an art work that is hand carved out of balsa wood in the shape of a branch. There are drawings of leaves on five plexiglass pieces fixated in the branch. An integrated led light make it possible to light the leaves in different colours. There is a DVD hanging from the branch like a drop, and a rainbow may be lit on the wall behind the Spring twig, which the kids can then see and try to touch. The art work is installed as part of an inner room where the children get together and play and relax in the preschool of Vallmon. The art work was inaugurated in June 2022.

Materials: Stones with natural holes and skeleton pieces of fish and bird, fishing line, light setting

Size: Approx. 6 x 5 x 4 m3

Year: 2021

Exhibited: SPARK gallery in Malmoe, Sweden

About the work: “Stones and Bones” contains of approximately 30 braids of fishing line in which stones and skeleton pieces of fish and bird are braided in and are hanging from the ceiling. For many years, the stones and bones have been gathered during long beach walks. All that is gathered has been eroded by sand and waves: the bone bits are scraped clean and the stones have natural holes in them.

The work is shown with slowly pulsating light settings in three phases, giving it an impression of breathing. At the same time, the alternating shadows on the walls are displayed in different nuances as well as in multiple layers.

Here is a short video of Stones and Bones light installation:

Here are some photos by Cecilia Sering from inside and outside of the showroom:

During Bästa Biennalen 2021 in the South of Sweden, I was hosting light laborations for mainly young people at Landskrona Museum although persons of all ages participated. There was recycled everyday material to make objects with in one room and a darker area with mini torches to experiment with the results and light in another. During the evening of “Kulturnatten” on the 5th of November 6-8 pm, I presented some of my own light installations which were also on display during the week of the workshops as inspiration.

Type of work: Painting in 4 pieces

Materials: Acrylic and waterbased oil paint on hardboard

Size: 36 x 28 cm each piece

Year: 2010 + 2020

About the work: Acrylic and water-based oil on hardboard, this series of paintings was begun in the 1990’s. The second layer was painted in the early 2000’s and the third layer – of shadows of branches in direct sun light – was applied 2020. The times and memories through the decades are inherent in the series, and the paintings have now moved to private art collections.

In 2019, I got the commission to print a pattern on the large glass entrance of the recreational building at Källdalsskolan in Uddevalla which was inaugurated in September 2020.

One part of the commission contained working with pupils, and re-use their material in the finished work. The pupils got the task to write down what they really like doing in their free time, except for anything related to a screen. Their contributions were inserted as elements in the pattern of the local map, forming my public art work Stråk. The pupils’ own favourite spare time actions are now imprinted into the building of the recreational centre, where many of them will spend some of their spare time.