Hilde Retzlaff
TRÄUME SÜSS

21.10.2022 — 13.11.2022
(right) ANGIE, 2022, Quilt, linen and paper doll, pyjama, pillow case made from cut out embroidered initials, 74.80h × 41.34w in (190h × 105w cm); (left) HELENA, 2022, Quilt, linen and paper dolls, house robe, Japanese disposable paper pillow case, 74.02h × 53.54w in (188h × 136w cm)
(right) HELENA, 2022, Quilt, linen and paper dolls, house robe, Japanese disposable paper pillow case, 74.02h × 53.54w in (188h × 136w cm); (middle) DOLORES, 2022, Quilt, linen and paper dolls, house robe, 71.65h × 47.24w in (182h × 120w cm); (left) SUSANNA, 2022, Quilt, linen and paper dolls, house robe, 74.02h × 52.76w in (188h × 134w cm)
(right) ANGIE, 2022, Quilt, linen and paper doll, pyjama, pillow case made from cut out embroidered initials, 74.80h × 41.34w in (190h × 105w cm); (left) HELENA, 2022, Quilt, linen and paper dolls, house robe, Japanese disposable paper pillow case, 74.02h × 53.54w in (188h × 136w cm)
HELENA, 2022, Quilt, linen and paper dolls, house robe, Japanese disposable paper pillow case, 74.02h × 53.54w in (188h × 136w cm)
ANGIE, 2022, Quilt, linen and paper doll, pyjama, pillow case made from cut out embroidered initials, 74.80h × 41.34w in (190h × 105w cm)
SUSANNA, 2022, Quilt, linen and paper dolls, house robe, 74.02h × 52.76w in (188h × 134w cm)
DOLORES, 2022, Quilt, linen and paper dolls, house robe, 71.65h × 47.24w in (182h × 120w cm)
STURECOMPAGNIET, 2022, Dolls furniture, paper, wooden box, brackets, 13.78h × 15.75w × 11.81d in (35h × 40w × 30d cm)
(right) STURECOMPAGNIET, 2022, Dolls furniture, paper, wooden box, brackets, 13.78h × 15.75w × 11.81d in (35h × 40w × 30d cm); (left) HELEN'S PLACE, 2022, Dolls furniture, paper, clay figure, chess board, brackets, 13.78h × 15.75w × 15.75d in (35h × 40w × 40d cm)
BREWERY STREET, 2022, Dolls furniture, paper, clay figure, wooden box, brackets, 11.81h × 15.75w × 11.81d in (30h × 40w × 30d cm)
LOUISE'S LIBRARY, 2022, Dolls furniture, paper, clay figure, carpet, wooden box, brackets, 13.78h × 15.75w × 11.81d in (35h × 40w × 30d cm)
(right) HELEN'S PLACE, 2022, Dolls furniture, paper, clay figure, chess board, brackets, 13.78h × 15.75w × 15.75d in (35h × 40w × 40d cm); (left) BREWERY STREET, 2022, Dolls furniture, paper, clay figure, wooden box, brackets, 11.81h × 15.75w × 11.81d in (30h × 40w × 30d cm)
HELEN'S PLACE, 2022, Dolls furniture, paper, clay figure, chess board, brackets, 13.78h × 15.75w × 15.75d in (35h × 40w × 40d cm)
CARL KOSTYÁL STOCKHOLM
(right) IDA, 2022, Doll bed, linen and paper doll, bed cover, pillow, 9.84h × 21.65w × 9.84d in (25h × 55w × 25d cm); (left) PETRA, 2022, Doll bed, linen and paper doll, bed cover, pillow, 16.14h × 20.47w × 10.63d in (41h × 52w × 27d cm)
KAZUKO, 2022, Doll bed, linen and paper doll, bed cover, pillow, party girland, Chinese silk embroidery, 21.26h × 31.50w × 15.75d in (54h × 80w × 40d cm)
HARUNA, 2022, Doll bed, linen and paper doll, bed cover, pillow, sequined patches, 9.06h × 18.11w × 9.06d in (23h × 46w × 23d cm)
(right) SANDRA, 2022, Doll bed, linen and paper dolls, bed covers, pillows, 19.69h × 19.69w × 7.87d in (50h × 50w × 20d cm); (2nd right) NANAMI, 2022, Doll bed, linen and paper doll, bed cover, pillow, 14.96h × 18.90w × 9.84d in (38h × 48w × 25d cm); (left) MIRAI AND GORDANA, 2022, Doll bed, linen and paper doll, bed covers, pillowsDoll bed, linen and paper doll, bed covers, pillows, 9.45h × 12.20w × 6.30d in (24h × 31w × 16d cm); (2nd left) CYHO, 2022, Doll bed, linen and paper doll, mink fur, pillow, beaded evening bag, 9.06h × 16.93w × 9.06d in (23h × 43w × 23d cm)

Exhibition Text

Hilde told me that the images she used for the show are taken from 90’s Japanese knitting magazines. Knitting magazines seem like the perfect feminine non threatening pass-time, conveniently removed from worldly issues such as politics and economy, however one gets a sense from the works in this show that there may be more happening below the surface than is immediately visible. It seems like Hilde, by working with aspects of the apparently flat and harmless universe that these magazines produce, has highlighted how they can be seen to reference and at the same time obscure the depths of female reproduction and power.

While being associated with qualities traditionally described as feminine, such as gentleness and care, knitting and patchwork require a degree of structural planning that is perhaps more often associated with traditionally male fields like engineering. Yielding materials such as fabric and thread are treated in a systematic fashion, and while endless variations of pattern can be generated there are also rules that need to be adhered to. Traditionally the knowledge of these crafts is passed down between generations. A parallel could be made to other things that are passed down generationally such as psychic abilities, home remedies, depression, trauma, shame and guilt.

I find the cut out faces sown to the fabric bodies reminiscent of icon paintings of virgin Mary, particularly in the wall works where there is a larger figure and one or two smaller ones that are held or float angelically. Interestingly the larger figures look the same age as the smaller ones, and both have similarly dejected and pouty facial expressions, size being the only sign of relative maturity. There seems to be a lot of emphasis on draping and fabric in these works and one can’t help to think about what is underneath the wooly jumpers and robes. However in the works where the body is revealed it turns out to be mysteriously flat and sexless, as if complications and messiness of bodily existence have been erased. The faces of the women are similarly simplified, being literally flat images. Their facial expressions also seem flat and vacant, as if they aren’t the expression of feelings of the individual woman but rather a fleeting embodiment of widely circulated tropes of feminine posture. The women, like butterflies, are caught and immortalised, pinned down or photographed in their short-lived prime. We seem to be dealing with a surface, a fantasy of a simplified and ideal woman where more gruesome aspects of femininity and especially motherhood are obscured. Being faced with the fragility and instability of this surface makes the presence of deeper existential truths and forces more intensely felt.

Similarly to the sadness expressed in some of the women’s faces, the worn off paint and other signs of distress on the beds and in the miniature interiors seems stylised. The passing of time is retained in the gentle deterioration of the surface patina, making it appear less threatening and even desirable. I can’t help associating the abundance of beds and cots with a hospital or orphanage, the term ‘baby boomers’ comes to mind. I imagine all these cots and dolls materialising out of a dust cloud after a war, the dolls being either literally orphaned or partially parentless in the sense that large parts of their parents’ minds were wiped out by the intensity of trauma they experienced.

Looking at the titles of the works as well as the notes attached to the butterflies in the vitrines one is struck with a flurry of names; Angie, Amiral, Nymphalidale, Haruna, Satyridae, Dolores, Gordana, Pamela. Naming seems like an exercise in trying to capture the essence of something, to vocalise its singular quality. There is a feeling of abundance, women and butterflies will keep appearing and life goes on.

Olga Pedan