Spotlight: Soile Hovila, Tapestry Artist

Soile Hovila began drawing and painting as a young child. She creates detailed tapestries in her workspace, with a window that opens onto a garden with the forest beyond.

How did you find yourself on an artist’s path? Always there?

I specialized in tapestry after graduating as a textile artist from the University of Art and Design Helsinki (Aalto University) in 2002.

I have been drawing and painting since I was five and started at Art School for Children in Joensuu (my hometown).

I think good drawing skills are essential for tapestry artists. Before discovering tapestry weaving, I made silk paintings. This technique requires speed, so it is the opposite of the tapestry technique, which requires patience. I have also studied art history and art education.

Describe your creative space.

My workspace is at home, with a window that opens onto a garden and the beautiful forest beyond. It’s a peaceful place. The space is too small for designing large tapestries, so I often draw against the wall.

What plays in the background while you work? Silence?

A good audiobook helps me stay seated at the loom for several hours. However, when I´m designing, I need complete silence.

How often do you start a new project? Do you work actively on more than one project at a time?

I specialize in large tapestries, so I typically begin a new tapestry about twice a year. I focus on one project at a time. Once I remove a tapestry from the loom and finish tying off its numerous yarns, I get energy to design the next piece.

Beyond the historical context, I was drawn to the immersive power of large-scale work. I wanted to create something that would envelop the viewer, like a forest that surrounds and quiets its visitors. During the pandemic, while people in cities were confined indoors, we in Finland could still access nature. That contrast inspired me to design a piece that reflects the peace of mind nature offers. The term ataraxis means pleasure that comes from peace of mind; space without mental stress.It took a long time to develop the concept—I needed to be sure it was something I could commit to weaving for years. The design process was also extensive, involving nearly 11 square meters of mirrored cartoon drawings, colored with color pencils.

My work is photo-oriented, and light plays a central role. I searched for images that evoked peace—misty lakes, distant horizons. Water and sky became key elements. However, technical limitations shaped the outcome. My loom is only two meters wide, so I wove the central panel from the side. When I unrolled it, I discovered warping issues. The fabric bulged. At first, I was disappointed, but I’ve come to see it as part of the story. The imperfections reflect the difficulty of achieving inner peace. The added stitches resemble runaway thoughts—reminders that it takes time to let go of daily burdens.

I wanted to express the spirituality of nature. For me, it’s like the awe one feels in a cathedral. But I didn’t want to emphasize Christianity too heavily, so I included the female moose, a sacred animal in ancient beliefs. In the past, nature was seen as sacred, full of holy places like springs. Urbanization and religion distanced us from that connection. If we could see the forest as sacred again, we might be more inclined to protect it. Sanctity lies in nature’s diversity, beauty, and silence.

One way to interpret Ataraxia is to begin with the reflections in the spring on the left panel. This spring, inspired by Kellolanlähde in my husband’s home village, is the gateway to peace of mind. The stones in the spring symbolize mental burdens. The dark spruces represent the weight of the mind. The spring is the tapestry’s sacred place. It sharpens the senses and lightens the spirit. A stream flows from it, and the sound of running water plays a calming role. I even dreamed of incorporating sound into the piece, which would have required collaboration with another artist.

I wanted to depict the familiar surroundings of a summer cottage—the place you return to, where tall trees stand like old friends. Trees are especially meaningful to me. For a long time, I wanted to capture the feeling of lying beneath their canopy. The home landscape is both familiar and ever-changing. There’s also an old sauna near the lake—a sacred space of relaxation for Finns. After the sauna, everything feels still. The reflections are motionless, and the mind is at peace.

I wove peace of mind into the yarns through visual elements: the spring, lake, cathedral window, and sauna. From a technical perspective, the calmness of my work is enhanced by restrained colors and a deliberate choice to leave the undyed warp thread visible. While traditional tapestry technique hides the warp, I let the gray linen show through. It unifies the color tones and adds a soft, tranquil quality to the piece.

Which part of the design process is your favorite?

I feel most inspired when I´m combining different yarns, searching for just the right shade and building color gradients from dark to light.

Is there an overarching theme that connects all of your work?

My tapestries tell stories through trees or explore the meaning of the forest. While I aim to create impact through the beauty of nature, aesthetics alone are no longer enough.

Since 2017, my work has increasingly carried meaningful content. Many of my pieces advocate for nature conservation and highlight the importance of forest biodiversity.

Do you prefer the kind of project that is challenging and requires attention, or the kind where you get in your meditative zone and enjoy the process?

Because I specialize in photo-based tapestries, setting new challenges is essential for my artistic growth. Early on, I focused on weaving rock surfaces and portraits. Later, I began exploring how to depict light, especially the way fog reveals rays of sunlight in the forest. 

My next challenge was to depict movement, which is particularly difficult in the inherently static medium of tapestry. I’ve woven scenes of birds in flight and flowing water.

I also want to develop in weaving overlapping images. In addition, the image always contains the challenge of how much representative or abstract it is.