Soile Hovila – The Home Front

Soile has been creating photo-based tapestries in Finland for over 20 years. Her textile works are woven by hand with thin threads on vertical looms, looking at the image row by row and from the reverse side.

She creates thought-provoking tapestries that are impactful with the beauty of light and richness of colours, but she also wants to comment on the alarming state of the environment. She leaves the warp visible under wefts where undyed linen warp combines colour shades and creates certain soft, muted tones.

In the “The Home Front”, you can see the spring plumage of ruffs, male ruffs compete almost silently for the attention of females. Soile is emphasising the need for undrained marshes which are vital for the survival of the birds, but the content was particularly influenced by the war in Ukraine, which permeates everyday thoughts.

She describes her subjects through beauty, as she is unable to describe the brutal reality of war. That’s why the subject is pomposity in war.