A tactile and evocative work by Swedish–English artist Bettina Nelson (b. 1989), The Elena Tapestries no. 4 (2020–2024) is a handwoven meditation on nostalgia, memory, and material survival. Created from Argentina’s last remaining rolls of formio fiber — a heritage material once central to rural craft traditions — the work bridges past and present through both medium and motif.
Woven into the natural formio are icons of the 1990s “plastic fantastic” era: cigarettes, plastic straws, and other fleeting symbols from a decade marked by industrial acceleration and synthetic optimism. By embedding these disposable images into the very material that plastic once replaced, Nelson stages a quiet reconciliation between heritage and mass production, adolescence and hindsight. The tapestry becomes a space where memory — imperfect and contradictory — is granted dignity.
Handwoven on a primitively structured vertical loom using only hands and fingers, the surface undulates with irregular rhythms and subtle variations. This deliberate embrace of imperfection reflects Nelson’s belief that objects carry memory not as narrative, but as sensation — what she describes as an intrinsic movement within the material itself.
Balancing permanence and transformation, tradition and ephemerality, The Elena Tapestries invites reflection on cultural shifts and the fragile persistence of craft in a rapidly changing world.
Designed to be displayed either mounted on a wall or suspended freely within a space, allowing its woven surface and material presence to be experienced from multiple angles.
Material: Formio fiber
Size: 180 cm × 125-140 cm
This tapestry will complement a Mid Century Modern, Scandinavian, Contemporary, or Eclectic interior, where material presence and quiet storytelling are central.
A tactile and evocative work by Swedish–English artist Bettina Nelson (b. 1989), The Elena Tapestries no. 4 (2020–2024) is a handwoven meditation on nostalgia, memory, and material survival. Created from Argentina’s last remaining rolls of formio fiber — a heritage material once central to rural craft traditions — the work bridges past and present through both medium and motif.
Woven into the natural formio are icons of the 1990s “plastic fantastic” era: cigarettes, plastic straws, and other fleeting symbols from a decade marked by industrial acceleration and synthetic optimism. By embedding these disposable images into the very material that plastic once replaced, Nelson stages a quiet reconciliation between heritage and mass production, adolescence and hindsight. The tapestry becomes a space where memory — imperfect and contradictory — is granted dignity.
Handwoven on a primitively structured vertical loom using only hands and fingers, the surface undulates with irregular rhythms and subtle variations. This deliberate embrace of imperfection reflects Nelson’s belief that objects carry memory not as narrative, but as sensation — what she describes as an intrinsic movement within the material itself.
Balancing permanence and transformation, tradition and ephemerality, The Elena Tapestries invites reflection on cultural shifts and the fragile persistence of craft in a rapidly changing world.
Designed to be displayed either mounted on a wall or suspended freely within a space, allowing its woven surface and material presence to be experienced from multiple angles.
Material: Formio fiber
Size: 180 cm × 125-140 cm
This tapestry will complement a Mid Century Modern, Scandinavian, Contemporary, or Eclectic interior, where material presence and quiet storytelling are central.
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