For the Lace-Makers (2020)

The work “For the Lace-Makers” refers to the relationship between the lace dealer Ms. Anna Kristina Iwersen and her craftswomen not known by their names today, her lace-makers.

The lace-makers worked as subcontractors for Iwersen. After she had sought and selected her lace-makers, they were trained to make the patterns. The lace-makers received orders from Iwersen. They received the pattern template for the lacemaking, which had been designed by Iwersen herself. Based on the pattern of the template, the lace-makers made the lace and implemented Iwersen's creative ideas and gave them form. Subsequently, the work of the lacemakers was bought by Iwersen, as far as they were considered good in the context of a quality control. The lace-makers were - probably - exclusively women. In 1836/37, 359 lace-makers made lace for Anna Kristine Iwersen.

The title highlights the meaning of the word of the lace pattern, which was the template for lacemaking. It was conceived, artistically designed, mathematically constructed by Iwersen and given to the lace-makers.

The sculptural form of the embossed prints thematises the anonymity of the lace-makers: Iwersen's ideas for form were only implemented through their technical skills. Furthermore, the embossed prints represent an excerpt from bobbin patterns made by unknown lace-makers, which were invented by Anna Kristine Iwersen and which today are exhibited in the Museumsberg in Flensburg, among other sites. The embossed prints show subjective quotations or enlargements of crossings, links, or interweaving. They are a poetic commentary from a contemporary perspective on the creative skills of Iwersen and the technical skills of the lace-makers. The embossed prints also represent a haptic archive of Iwersen’s sculptural lace patterns and refer to the anonymity of the craftswomen behind her patterns.