Date of Interview: April 20, 2009
Location of Interview: Elmer L. Anderson Library, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Length of Transcript: 19 pages
Audio Clips:
Biographical Summary
Helena Hernmarck was born in Sweden and has a B.A. from Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design, Stockholm. She has operated her own weaving studio for 45 years in Canada, England, New York, and currently Connecticut, designing and executing large-scale tapestries. Her awards include the American Institute of Architects’ Craftsmanship Medal, 1973; Sweden’s Prins Eugen Medal, 1999; and Swedish American of the Year, 2000. Hernmarck has exhibited at museums throughout the world including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Kunstindustrimuseet, Copenhagen, and the Prins Eugens Waldermarsudde Museum, Stockholm. Hernmarck has also taught widely. In 2005, she was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.
Interview Topics
Hernmarck talks about meeting Jack Lenor Larsen in 1965; how her work came to be included in Larsen’s books; the similarities between Larsen’s and Hernmarck’s weaving philosophies; Larsen’s globalism; Larsen as craftsman, as textile producer and as a unique person; and Larsen’s time at Cranbrook Academy of Art.
Sears Bank Tower (1974) Quilted silk hanging on the main floor of the Sears Tower
Admiral’s Club, Dallas/Fort Worth Airport (1974) Leather and fabric patchwork mural commissioned by American Airlines
Funding for these oral histories was provided by a Craft Research Fund Grant from the University of North Carolina, Asheville Center for Craft, Creativity & Design.
