Bella Rune – XYZ

The exhibition presents sculptures made of textile, wood and metal which together form an installation in the gallery’s three rooms. The title, XYZ, brings to mind representation of three-dimensional structures and geometry. Bella Rune is inspired by resource-efficient structures and the construction of the human body. The sculptures combine solid and elastic elements and retrieves fuel from craft traditions and human experience. They can be perceived as poetic balancing acts with imaginary function. In the stripped-down simplicity and the care of material and colour, there is a dialogue with art history, a contemporary presence and a premonition of the future.

In a conversation with curator and writer Maria Lind, Bella Rune describes her working process:

In this exhibition, I have reflected on my previous work on a series of mohair yarn sculptures, scrutinised the knowledge formation in them from every angle and explored construction types beyond that of load-bearing constructions.
I have considered how economical they are, how very little material is required to create something that links architecture to body, their inherent knowledges, which I want to take with me into the future. The exhibition has been a way of following up the works, but also of learning which other practitioners or knowledge formers had influenced me, something I maybe didn’t fully comprehend while making them. I have studied a lot of objects from the 1920s and onwards, where artists and architects have experimented with other kinds of constructions.

These structures are very simple, but I also want to retain a sort of magical quality. When we look at these objects, we understand exactly how they were made, and I also want to appeal to our potential to see the magic in simple things. This time, I’ve worked with ropes, strings, yarn, and with techniques such as macramé, and looked at traditions that use knotting, including seafaring, and studied how they are literally tied together. It’s all about making things out of necessity, using whatever is available around us.

(The conversation in full will soon be available on our website.)

Bella Rune (born 1971) lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden. She is educated at Chelsea College of Arts in London (1995–1998) and Beckmans School of Design, Stockholm, Sweden (1992–1994). She works with sculpture, including performative elements and experiments with different materials and techniques. In the ongoing project Konsekvensanalys (Impact analysis) she explores the interface between physical reality and a virtual world with augmented reality. The project has been displayed in exhibitions at Stadsskogen, Uppsala, Sweden (2015), Konstmuseet i Norr, Kiruna, Sweden (2016), Tensta Konsthall, Sweden (2018) and Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia (2018) as well as a site specific permanent public commission at Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden (2018). She curated the exhibition Textila undertexter (Textile Subtexts) together with Helena Selder. It was first presented at Marabouparken, Sweden (2016) and later at Malmö Konstmuseum, Sweden (2017). In the exhibition she made a larger installation also serving as exhibition design. At the art fair Market in Stockholm last year she received great attention for the installation Vertical Network Performance, a series of mobile sculptures in mohair yarn that combines her interest in craft, history and popular culture. Bella Rune is a professor of Fine Art, Textile at Konstfack, University College of Arts, Crafts and Design. The educational work is also an important part of her artistry.