My mother's house is a work of art
Published
2-4-2026
Type of Work
Creative Work - Design
Advisors and Contributors
Lene Bruun Kolff
Abstract
Lene Bruun Kolff is a Danish textile artist who “paints” with needle and thread. With utmost respect for textile artforms such as embroidery, knitting, crochet, lacework, sewing, and print she processes and transforms the materials that were often painstakingly created by women long ago. She cuts, unravels, colours, paints and burns chosen pieces. The resulting embroidery collages are created on old blankets and tablecloths. The slow embroidery process provides peace and immersion.
Lene is also my mother. She lives with my New Zealand-Dutch father, Willie, in a 300 year-old house in a small village in eastern Jutland, Denmark. They have lived there since my brother and I were born, and it has been the home I have loved coming back to since I started living overseas 27 years ago. It is also where my children now love spending time whenever we visit from Australia.
On these visits I take photos of the house and the things in it, because my mother is not only an artist when she creates her artworks, she is an artist every moment: when she places a meal on the table, when she arranges a flower from the garden, and when she picks up a hair tie from the pavement for her collection. In this book I have captured parts of her living archive of images and things to preserve it for my family and the coming generation, and to share it with you.
Citation
Kolff, L. (2026). My mother's house is a work of art [Unpublished art book].