Anyone who thinks that Liselot Cobelens’ studio is a tangle of balls of wool, threads, cloth and looms will be disappointed. Liselot simply designs her large carpets on the computer, after which a modern machine does the work. The result is impressive. From Thursday, her carpets, inspired by the Brabant landscape, can be seen in the Weverijmuseum in Geldrop.
Liselot regularly studies satellite photos, maps and water maps in search of inspiration for a new carpet. Themes such as climate change and desiccation often return in her work. She translates shapes and structures from the landscape into abstract designs and weaves carpets from them. Yet some details stand out: the purple Brabant heath is unmistakably present in one of the works in the Weaving Museum.
“How people shape, change and control the landscape.”
Making a painting is complicated enough, but weaving a carpet as a work of art is an extra challenge for Liselot. “You have to translate something that you design on the computer into wire. That is exciting, but also very fun to do.” Some of the carpets in the exhibition were even made in the Weaving Museum, on a state-of-the-art machine from 2023 that only requires a USB stick with the design.
Liselot was already fascinated by the Brabant landscape during her childhood in Deurne. She often went out with her parents, including through De Peel, an area that is increasingly drying out. “I wonder how humans shape, change and control the landscape, and how we deal with problems that are happening faster than we as a society can keep up with.”
“Scientists are extremely concerned.”
At the art academy, Liselot discovered tufting, a technique for making carpets. “I see the canvas as a kind of earth, the needle goes through it and the landscape grows.” Concern for the future of the landscape is an important message in her work. Her carpets are now also on tour in the United States, where she talked to climate scientists and farmers.
The scientists were extremely concerned, says Liselot. Other people are full of contradictions. “I spoke to a farmer who did not believe in climate change. But a few sentences later he said that there was always a lot of snow in his youth, and that it is rare now. He thought it would come back. You also see such contradictions in the Netherlands.”
“It’s about the future of Brabant. Where is it going?”
In the work California Drought, also on display in the Weaving Museum, the demise of the snow is clearly visible: only a small white line at the top of the carpet. “The changes in the landscape are happening much faster than before,” says Liselot.
The largest carpet in the exhibition, Terra Brabant, was commissioned by the province. “It is a fantasy landscape. It is about the future of Brabant: where is it going?” Yet her beloved Peel can be seen in it. “Parts of the Brabant landscape come together here, such as the Maasheggen and the landscape around De Biesbosch.”
Liselot Cobelens’ carpets can be seen in the Weverijmuseum in Geldrop until March 29.
