Marja Nordin was a Swedish textile artist who was known for her large batik artworks and her textile paintings.
Marja Nordin was born in Helsingborg in 1931. She grew up in Halmstad and Jönköping. She then moved to Stockholm to study and work. In 1964 she moved to Lund where she settled and had a studio on Laboratoriegatan. She spent the final years of her life in Laholm.
Marja Nordin trained at Konstfackskolan (later the college of arts, crafts and design) from 1952–1954. Later she worked solely in textiles and took several courses, such as at Nyckelviksskolan with Carl Malmsten in 1962, and in batik and colouring with Gösta Sandberg from 1952–1954. In her later years she learned to paint on both silk and linen and took a course in how to make sheet glass to create stained glass at the Konstfack in 1981. She participated in many exhibitions that were judged by juries: Liljevalch’s Form Fantasi in 1964, and Vikingsbergs Konstmuseum in Helsingborg’s Ting exhibitions in 1971, 1984, 1988. She displayed some of her textile works at several solo exhibitions overseas, including the Worcester Center for Crafts in the USA in 1963. She also displayed large-scale textile works in exhibitions organised by the World Crafts Council in Dublin in 1970, Istanbul in 1972, Toronto in 1974, Kolding in 1974, Dublin in 1974, Oaxtepec in Mexico in 1976, Vienna in 1980, Dublin in 1983, and Brussels in the 1980s.
Back in Sweden Marja Nordin was the hostess of String design in Stockholm for several years. She was also a frequent exhibitor and showed her batik artwork at exhibitions at the likes of Stadsmuseet in Helsingborg in 1973, the Form/Design Center in Malmö in 1979, Kalmar county museum in 1983, and Stadshallen in Lund in 1996. As she was an active member of the Konstnärernas Kollektivverkstad (artists’ communal studio) in Malmö which ran the Galleri Loftet, she would often display her works there in a variety of differently themed exhibitions, including Konst i offentlig miljö and Cirkeln both in 1985, and Kläder och smycken in 1987.
Marja Nordin took her artistic inspiration from her many overseas journeys, to places such as Egypt, Peru, USA, Mexico, and Sri Lanka. On several occasions she represented Sweden at major meetings organised by the World Crafts Councils across the globe. Her creations can be seen in many public spaces: churches, banks, hospitals, and doctor’s surgeries. She was commissioned by the Knästorp church near Lund to produce an altar cloth and vestment in violet-coloured raw silk, and Våxtorp church has owned a vestment made by Marja Nordin in lime-green linen with lemon-yellow silk lining since 2004.
Marja Nordin’s themes are characterised by ornamentations in large, circular shapes with idioms taken from experiences of nature, plants, and ambiences. Several of her major embellishments comprise mandorla-like shapes which dominate the outer edges. Her works carry names such as Vision, Flykt, Kosmos, Vågspel, Fyrverkeri, Kvist, Blomsteräng, Spegling, Ruta and Fågel Fenix. Her colour schemes tend to be soft green tones with yellow accents. She blends greyish-green tones with lighter shades and her stylised shapes feel very stable and complete in their finished form.
Marja Nordin died in Lahome in 2003. She is buried at Våxtorp cemetery.
