Sibyllinity Scarf

Pattern available on Ravelry and Etsy.

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Now that's a four-dollar word, isn't it?

If you didn't know it by now, though, I'm a bit of a word nerd!

Sibylline means to have a secret or hidden meaning or relating to foretelling the future.

Have you ever heard of Hilma af Klint? She was a Swedish abstract artist - perhaps even the REAL first abstract artist! Her story is fascinating and inspiring. And she was the inspiration for this design.

I first learned about Hilma af Klint during an online event for creatives that I attended in late 2020. As both a designer and a painter, I found her story intriguing. I read a bit about her but then moved on.

Until February of 2022 when I got a submissions call from Pom Pom magazine. And guess what their inspiration was? Horizons and artists like Hilma af Klint. My jaw nearly hit the floor and I got SO excited!

From their submissions call:

Sometimes it takes something big to get us to look towards the unknown, but sometimes something as simple as a glance at the horizon reminds us that there is so much we haven’t yet seen. For this issue we are looking to great artists such as Etel Adnan and Hilma af Klint, who showed us their distinct ways of looking at our world, and possible worlds beyond the visible. Adnan’s rich and unexpected colour combinations speak of landscapes as she saw them, often showing where the ground meets the sky. And af Klint, who was all but unknown in her lifetime, painted the metaphysical meditations she felt she had been called to. They both looked at and beyond horizons, and showed us their ways of seeing. Horizons have long been something studied by artists for their colour as well as their philosophical implications, they provide a place to play with perspective of many kinds.

Beyond the Visible is the name of a documentary from 2019 about Hilma af Klint and if you're interested, you can find out more here: https://zeitgeistfilms.com/film/beyondthevisiblehilmaafklint It is also available to rent or buy on Amazon.

Here's the trailer if you want to take a peek!

And here are a few articles, too, if you'd like to read more about her:

https://www.tate.org.uk/tate-etc/issue-27-spring-2013/first-abstract-artist-and-its-not-kandinsky

https://www.guggenheim.org/exhibition/hilma-af-klint The video here is fascinating!

https://www.guggenheim.org/audio/track/group-i-primordial-chaos-1906-07-by-hilma-af-klint My favorite quote comes from this article: