Katri Astala: Textus

Graphic designer Katri Astala’s exhibition Textus explores the visual connections between text and textile. The exhibition, composed of woven works, transforms texts into textiles and asks what makes text look like text. The exhibition is on view at Luonnos until 12 April.

The starting point of the exhibition is the etymological connection between the words text and textile: both derive from the Latin word textus, whose Ancient Greek root texere means to weave. Rather than focusing on linguistic meaning, the exhibition examines the visual forms shared by text and textile.

Typographic text and woven textile share structural similarities, such as rows. In the Latin alphabet, text is read and written in horizontal lines, while fabric is created as the weft thread passes between warp threads row by row. Weaving drafts also consist of rows of black-and-white squares that function as instructions for producing a textile.

At the centre of the exhibition is an artist’s book designed and produced by Astala, consisting of 15 woven pages. In the book, features of text — such as lines, columns and grids — are translated into weaving structures, and readable text gradually transforms into texture. In addition to the book, the exhibition includes two larger woven works as well as process material and sketches.