Anahita Ghazinezam

A cartoon take on French marquetry by two Iranian-Swedish sisters in Västerbotten, Sweden.

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The finished piece. It turned out a bit more odd in proportion than I anticipated. But boy - the learning curve... As someone cleverly once stated, which I recalled many times after a process during which I thought “hm... this should work...”: Assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups.

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An army of eyebrows slowly marches ahead, in the first motif of the project.

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A thin sprayed layer of shellac and two coats of Osmo hardwax-oil produces a wipeable surface easy to maintain.

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Exhibition at KF Huset in the tiny village of Klöse in Västerbotten. Photos by Johannes Samuelsson.

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Armitas cartoon series Les femmes fozool (Les femmes meaning “the women” in French and fozool meaning “nozy” in Farsi) presented female figures puzzling to the eurocentric eye - non-victims in hijabs and head scarfs diverse in looks, shapes and sizes, coping with everyday life. 

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It is a wonder how forgiving the human eye is when deciphering shapes and colours and turning them into a human being. Elephant ears and a miniscule mouth. Gouging eyes and chinless drool. “Human!” the brain exclames. But - one shape must be absolute and never violated: the pupil and iris. They must be round, absolute round, and fairly in proportion. If not, your carefully planned veneer-faced human will turn reptile or goat, not fooling any audience and drawing suspicion.

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Leif Burman, lecturer at Carl Malmsten school of furniture studies, shows how to saw packages of veneer. The coordination between hands and feet remind much of sewing on a sewing machine. The Hegner scrollsaw differs of course. It doesnt have a presser foot or feed dog, wich means you press down and push in the material with your fingers. You can see Leif using a small wooden block as a hand-held presser foot holding down the fragile and thin veneer.

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The stunning Capellagården on the island of Öland is a residential school founded by Carl Malmsten, a Swedish furniture designer and educator born in 1888. The school holds courses in carpentry, ceramics, gardening and textile. Luckily it also held a week long course in French marquetry during the summer of 2015. Leif Burman, a master carpenter and lecturer at Carl Malmsten school of furniture studies in Stockholm, was the head of class.

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Vindelns folkhögskola in the small town of Vindeln in North Sweden, is a Swedish folk high school following Nordic traditional principles of adult education and life-long learning. Every year 12 students from all walks of life start a 1 year long course called “Trä och Smide” and learn the basics of traditional Swedish woodwork, carpentry and metal work. At the end of the academic year the students in this class, and two other classes, can enter a competition for a term long working grant. The project “Iranian sorrows in Nordic veneer” is a collaboration of two sisters. Armita Ghazinezam is a cartoonist who in the series “Les femmes fozool” explained and explored the position of Iranian women in a dog-eat-dog society. I am a runaway burned out journalist mutating back to human like figure by slowly carving Swedish butter knifes and fondling veneer. Together we join efforts in combining two very different arts. French marquetry is the traditional decorative art of using veneer inlay to create a picture, peaking in waves of popularity during the 17th and 18th century in Europe. Modern Swedish political cartoon is an art form highly disregarding décor and traditional concepts of beauty, focusing on social and political issues. Somehow these two art forms will be joined. On this site you can follow the progress.