Kristian Falden

Describe your relationship with textile design – what sparked your interest?
I have always been interested in creativity and have always been very creative. When I was younger, I thought I would work in the fashion industry, but during my studies in fashion and textile design, I realised that I was more interested in textiles as a material. I have always loved building entire universes, and there is greater freedom in working beyond what is only about the body, as fashion often is. With textiles as a material, I can work with the whole room.

Your degree project explores textiles from a more experimental perspective. Tell us more! 
It is a project where experimental methods meet a craft-based approach. I also wanted to incorporate time as an important element. During my education and internships, I gained an insight into the industry and often felt that everything moved very quickly. That is why I wanted to explore how digital technology and AI could be used in a different way – not to make the process more efficient, but as a tool for creating a slower and more exploratory way of working. Through the process, I also discovered how the textile could become an active part of the development, where the properties of the material and the different parts together helped shape the final result.

Why did butterflies become such an important element?
I find butterflies very interesting, not least because of their connection to nature. In fact, it turned out that the butterflies were what tied everything together. I also realised that the colours of the work were found in them.

What is your view on the use of AI in art and design?
I don’t think AI should be used as a replacement or a shortcut for creating something. 

Then it very easily becomes generic. Instead, I think it should be used for what it can actually do. How can you use AI as a tool, and in a way that can elevate your work? That is where, and in the meeting with the human hand, I think it becomes interesting.

Tell us about your wallpaper for Boråstapeter!  
It is a further development of my degree project, where I have translated my maximalist and eclectic universe into wallpaper. The result is a pattern with a maximalist expression, while the surface still feels harmonious.

What was the biggest challenge?  
Exploring how I could transfer the methods and ways of working I already use in my artistic work with textiles into wallpaper design. I wanted to explore how my existing techniques and experience could be adapted to wallpaper’s specific format and expression. Suddenly, I needed to think much more about texture and the qualities that textiles usually contribute naturally. The question became how I could recreate and transfer these tactile qualities into wallpaper design.

What feeling would you say the pattern brings to a room?  
It is a pattern you can return to again and again and discover new things every time you look at it. I love creating worlds and allowing that playful feeling to have space. The pattern can, for example, be used on just one wall or one section, as a playful statement in a room.