Hanne Friis

Hanne Friis (b. 1972, Oslo, Norway) is considered one of the most influential Norwegian contemporary artists working with textiles today. In her sculptures, Friis utilizes natural and synthetic fabrics to create amorphous, intricately patterned forms made of folds, spirals, and twists. These hand-sewn and often hand-dyed works are dense and precisely woven so as to appear bulbous and on the verge of transformation, evoking processes of growth and decay. The artist has said of the sculptures, “I increasingly see vitality and strength in them – there is so much power in all living things.” 

Before specializing in textile art, Friis studied sculpture and painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Trondheim from 1992 to 1996. Describing herself as a "frustrated painter" and inspired by sculptors in the US such as Lynda Benglis and Eva Hesse, she began using canvas as a material for soft sculptures. She often draws parallels between the process of sewing and that of painting, where both mediums engage the physicality of the body, merging the process of folding, joining, and sewing fabric to the form of each object. 

Hanne Friis has exhibited worldwide, including a major solo exhibition in 2013 at the Vigeland Museum in Oslo, Norway, and most recently, a solo exhibition at the Museum für Kunst
und Gewerbe in Hamburg, Germany in 2024 and 2025. Her works are included in a number of important public and private collections including the National Museum of Art, Oslo, Norway; National Museum of Decorative Arts, Trondheim, Norway; Haugar Kunstmuseum, Tønsberg, Norway; West Norway Museum of Decorative Arts, Bergen, and the Norwegian Parliament, Oslo. She lives and works in Oslo, Norway.