Lizan Freijsen (1960-2024)

Pillars of life 

Lizan Freijsen first came to the TextielLab to tuft in 2008. It marked the start of a special collaboration and an impressive oeuvre that showcases the beauty of fungi, lichens and other micro-organisms. The TextielMuseum acquired one of Freijsen’s first works, Stonewall rim lichen, for its permanent collection. A series of tufted fabrics for international clients followed, which Freijsen created with tufting experts Hester Onijs and Karen Zeedijk. Recent works include The fungal wall, a 12-metre-long moss wall for Artis Micropia, and the Seed and moss carpet for the entrance hall of the global seed vault in Oslo, Norway.

In early 2024, Freijsen returned to the lab to make a rug for the ARTIS-Groote Museum in Amsterdam. For the first time in 16 years, the tufted work depicted a completely different subject: the cross-section of a tree. Freijsen was fascinated by a wooden foundation pile exhibited in the Groote Museum, which had supported the museum as an invisible force for over 160 years. With Karen Zeedijk, she began translating the tree rings into a woollen rug that she herself described as ‘a soft place of attention’.

During the development process, Freijsen tragically died following a bicycle accident. At the request of Freijsen’s family and ARTIS, Zeedijk finished the rug, based partly on earlier instructions and partly on her years of collaboration and friendship with Freijsen. To mark the artist’s passing in the work, Zeedijk skipped the first tree ring after her death: a symbol of the void Freijsen had left behind. In late August 2024, Freijsen’s family was invited to see the rug, titled Pillars of life, being removed from the tufting frame in the lab. On 10 September, Freijsen’s daughter unveiled the rug in the East Hall of the ARTIS-Groote Museum, where it is now on permanent display.

Photos amongst others by Josefina Eikenaar and Patty van den Elshout commissioned by TextielMuseum