Artist Nina Silfverberg will be in this year’s Beyond The Fringe.

What drives you to create?
I just always have…I like producing with my hands. It feels fulfilling. I guess to feel fulfilled.

Why did you choose fiber as your medium?
Wool is a wonderful malleable material, full of surprises. It keeps me challenged.

What kind of materials do you incorporate into your art? Where do you find them?
Thread, yarn, rocks, twigs…fiber optics…I find them all around me.

How much time do you typically invest in a piece?
Sometimes a year, sometimes an afternoon.

What is your process to turn your artistic vision into the finished piece?
I do a lot of thinking, drawing and planning and then I execute. I have two small kids so I don’t have much studio-time for experimenting.

What is the special meaning or message behind your work?
For the pieces in BTF I am reflecting on a particularly difficult time in my life.

Some artists create their art for therapy purposes. Does that apply to you?
Rarely, but for BTF this time it does. Having said that, I realize that the focus of creating, and the energy of creating, is therapeutic no matter what.

What artists do you admire most?
There are too many to mention…but I really love Anish Kapoors work as well as Andy Goldsworthy…Marc Chagall…John Galliano…Joseph Beauys…Rebecca Horn…and so so many more known and not known artists!

Where do you find inspiration?
In the places I least expect.

Do you have any upcoming projects or art shows this year?
Not that I know of yet.

How can people contact you?
my website