Sonnhild Kestler
Essay
For over 20 years, textile designer Sonnhild Kestler has created elaborate, handmade textiles for her label S.K. HAND-DRUCK. Her products are distinguished by exquisite fabrics and an inimitable combination of colour and design. For her ornaments, she looks to the folklore of Eastern Europe, religious cult imagery of Southeast Asia, children's books and even everyday culture. Using a kind of collage technique, she prints individual elements on paper and keeps reassembling them until she has produced the atmosphere she is looking for. In the process, she makes films, illuminates silkscreens, mixes colours and stretches fabric on the print table. Kestler uses up to 20 colours per design so that she can produce only four to eight hand-printed scarves per day, especially since she often enhances them with embroidery or crocheted trim. These luxurious creations are the core of the collection and they form Kestler's distinctive universe, along with her designs for towels, weavings in wool and cotton and other accessories.
