Albert Edelfelt: A Girl Knitting Socks

What came to my mind was that I was picking up some Christian vibes from it. Like maybe a western Finland short of Swedish inspired protestant Christianity, short of very modest clothing conservative colors.

I think this girl is an allegory of nature, because nature is like the girl – always naive and childlike. Every year nature is resurrected from winter, but at the same time we see a deep sorrow in her eyes, and it’s really frightening to see such sorrow in the eyes of a little girl – she is not supposed to feel that kind of sorrow. I see a something like a broken branch in her hands. People very often hurt nature; we pollute the air and the oceans. The girl is an image of nature, she is not a human being but… nature is like a young child who is reborn every year, and at the same time nature is quite wise – nature knows what humanity is. There is a conflict between humanity and nature existing in recent times; that’s why there is such sorrow in her eyes.

I think she lost her grandmother and they used to work in the forest. Her grandmother taught her to knit in the forest, so it’s a memory of her grandmother.

I think she is making the same jacket as she is wearing. I also see her as a part of nature, and I was thinking that maybe she is like a god, making the world through her knitting. That’s the reason for her worried look, because of the current state of the world.