Amanda Vesthardt

Amanda Vesthardt (b. 1993, Denmark) is a multidisciplinary/visual artist, with a focus on textile and fiber art. Coming from a background in fashion, she often explores various facets of textile waste and our relationship to objects. Over the past few years, she has become very interested in the relationship between our bodies and the textiles we wear. She has been exploring these notions through installation artworks and textiles within space. The concept of “costumes for the space” is a series of projects in which she researches and experiments with different themes such as our emotional connection to objects, tactile experiences, and storytelling through non-verbal communication like dance and performance. These projects are often executed in collaboration with other artists or designers to implement new perspectives. Most of Amanda’s work is based on the arts and crafts of textiles, involving various techniques such as knitting, tufting, sewing, embroidery, and patchwork. Handcrafting artworks and experimenting with new approaches are constant threads that run through all her works.

About the project

During her residency, Amanda Vesthardt aims to explore how one connects with installation art through the medium of textiles while simultaneously focusing on sourcing recycled textiles for the production of the final artworks. With a background in fashion, she is very much aware of the relationship we have with the clothes we wear. Textile art installation lies in the middle ground between humans, space, art, and textile craftsmanship. One connects with a space when experiencing immersive textile installation because instead of merely viewing the artwork, one enters it and becomes an integral part of it. It’s the “here and now” experience that truly makes the difference. This is why it is very important to the artist that in her works, the audience can touch and interact with the artwork, bringing out a childlike playfulness in most people.

Photos: Christian Rückert