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Coiled Fishing Rope Sculptures by Joana Schneider Twist Organic Shapes into Otherworldly Forms

26 Dec, 2024

This post was originally published on Colossal

When Joana Schneider moved to The Hague, she began to visit the beach regularly. Having spent her childhood in Munich, the sea was a novel and a fruitful source of inspiration. Soon, the fishermen working in the harbor caught her eye.

“There was something so intriguing about their world, which seemed to straddle this line between rugged labor and delicate artistry,” Schneider tells Colossal. “They were using knotting techniques, traditionally seen as feminine and delicate, but on a much larger scale, with heavy-duty ropes.”

a large-scale round coiled rope sculpture in red, white, and blue
“Shine On You Crazy Diamond” (2024)

The artist quickly connected what the anglers created with the traditions of textile art and began to source their leftover rope. Now based on
KNSM Island in Amsterdam, Schneider continues to utilize the mariner material in her large-scale sculptures. “I spend days untangling the nets before I can start working with them. Then, I dry the ropes in the sun, which gives them this oceanic scent,” she adds.

Once desiccated, the materials often become the structure for thin, colorful yarn the artist wraps around the strands. The finished works are sometimes abstract and others boldly figurative, portraying exaggerated facial features in coiled, hand-stitched patchwork.

The process is labor-intensive, but the slow, methodical movements are part of what Schneider is drawn to. “Each turn of the yarn around the rope is a quiet, focused act. There is something very grounding about it. The rhythm of wrapping, the gentle tension of the yarn, and the soft texture of the fibers create a peaceful space where the world outside seems to fade away,” she says. The resulting works retain evidence of this meticulous process as coils large and small swell outward in perfectly concentric circles.

Currently, Schneider is working toward a solo exhibition titled Otherworldly that will open in April at the Groniger Museum in The Netherlands. Blurring the line between the real and the fantastic, the project draws on the artist’s fascination with hybridity and includes a performative element, a harbinger of where her practice is headed. She shares:

When I think of the natural world, I often think of the Renaissance tradition of grotesque art. It fascinates me how, in that period, artists mixed human, animal, and plant forms in intricate ways…The result is a hybrid environment that is at once familiar and alien. That is something I try to achieve in my work, a sense of wonder and a bit of disorientation as if stepping into a place where the boundaries of the natural world are deliberately blurred.

Schneider’s sculptures are currently on view at the FITE Textile Biennial in Clermont-Ferrand, France, and will be included in a 2025 group exhibition at König Galerie in Munich. Until then, find more of her work on her website and Instagram.

a side angle view of a coiled insect-like sculpture of rope wrapped in yarn in shades of pink
“Sugarfly” (2024)
a detail image of coiled rope wrapped in various shades of pink yarn
Detail of “Sugarfly” (2024)
a large-scale face made of coiled rope specked with blue and red
“Freckles” (2022)
a detail image of a large-scale round coiled rope sculpture in red, white, and blue
Detail of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” (2024)
a curvy abstract sculpture of green, yellow, and pink yarn-wrapped coiled rope in varying thicknesses
Light Child” (2023)
a detail image of green, yellow, and pink yarn-wrapped coiled rope in varying thicknesses
Detail of “Light Child” (2023)
a large-scale face sculptures made from coiled patches of natural rope
“The Good Farmer” (2023)
two coiled sculptures in red and pink rope on pedestals with squiggly wall works behidn
“Red and Blue Iris Wave” series (2022). Photo by Pim Top

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Coiled Fishing Rope Sculptures by Joana Schneider Twist Organic Shapes into Otherworldly Forms appeared first on Colossal.

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