MUNTHE ART MONDAY: SIGNE EMDAL

Please introduce yourself and tell us about what you do.

Hi, my name is Signe Emdal (she/her), and I am a Danish visual artist, master artisan, and photographer with bases around the world. In my artistic practice, I explore creation processes and the environments or communities in which artworks are made or emerge. I also delve into navigation, historical textile techniques, ornamentation, historical artists, the cosmos, nature, and historic architecture. Through my practice, I travel extensively for artist residencies around the world, experiencing the act of "creating" within communities and studying these processes, preferably in landscapes and beautiful historic buildings. I photograph these settings analogously, often alongside portraits of the many other artists from all over the world I meet during these residencies.

I primarily create sculptural, physical works using vertical looms across five different mediums, each representing a form of hybrid techniques I have developed and invented myself. While in Iceland, I created a new medium called Ecdysis, in the company of lifelong new friends.

The photos featuring MUNTHE clothing were taken at the Icelandic Textile Centre in November 2024 by the Canadian artist Miriam Behman. Miriam works with a combination of photography and textiles. During my November residency, I spent a month with 15 artists from across the globe, including the young Swiss artist Oscar Staehelin. In these stunning photos, he is seen with me wearing his own handmade crocheted costumes, which he created during our stay – wow! Miriam also captured the photos of Oscar and me.

SIGNE is wearing Skallo blouse and Obey pants.

Can you name some other female (artist) that inspires you and explain why they do so?

My two greatest idols are Sonja Ferlov Mancoba (a Danish sculptor who lived in Paris, France) and Märtha Måås Fjetterström (a Swedish weaver and artist who lived in Båstad, Sweden). Both women had the most incredible esoteric connection to an almost divine flow, which manifested in their physical works. Sonja and Märtha each worked symbiotically with past artists in their own unique ways, creating a kind of "new essence or extract" that simultaneously resembled the past and a distant futuristic future, all within their own time. Their life’s work is their life story.

My life was forever changed the moment I discovered these two epic women. I realized that I possessed the same abilities and destiny they had, and suddenly, a kind of blueprint unfolded before me—a guide for how someone like me could navigate and live in the world in a beautiful way. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

In 2026, I will have a major exhibition at the museum Maison Louis Carré in France. My focus will be to honor Elissa Aalto and Olga Carré, the two women who created this beautiful, iconic villa (together with Alvar Aalto and Louis Carré).

What has been the most challenging aspect of being a woman in the arts?

I’d rather talk about how amazing it is to be a female artist. I love that I can contribute a voice that celebrates the sensitive and the esoteric. Yes, I am a woman, but as an artist, I am part of the collective flow, where I have lived many times before, both as a woman and as a man.

I deeply love all my non-binary, trans, and queer friends who cannot be confined to predefined societal boxes. They remind me that women, too, cannot be placed in one large box and that none of us benefit from living in a "victim role." The more we embrace ourselves as individuals and stand confidently in who we are, the more the world respects exactly the person we are.

Can you explain more about how being a woman has affected your career?

Since the beginning of my practice, I have been deeply aware of how fortunate I am to be part of one of the first generations of women in the West who can choose precisely the life path they want. Many generations before mine did not have that choice. That’s why I’ve made it a point to celebrate historical female artists within my practice and in my works. Sometimes this is explicitly mentioned, and other times these small tokens of gratitude appear as hidden symbols within my pieces.

I am able to be an artist today because of all the women who fought great battles. It’s crucial to use the freedom we now have and focus on shutting out anyone who tries to control you simply because you’re a woman. The fight has been fought. We are, in fact, already free. We must use that freedom, recognize it, and take it seriously, so younger generations have strong role models. We must truly claim and manifest that freedom, or it will quickly slip away again.

SIGNE is wearing Skallo blouse.

What would you like people to notice in your artwork?

I hope my works create space for imagination and evoke physical feelings and personal memories in people.

Often, people see completely different things in my sculptures, and I love that! Many are especially moved in their hearts, in a tender place.

The works are made for the global community, not for myself or about myself.

SIGNE is wearing Skallo blouse.

Photo credit: @shukranoski @miri_behman