“A woman walks out of a CofE church in a small market town, nothing unusual there until you see that the woman in question is dressed from head to toe in a Burka,” says Ciara Nolan.
“She had been hosting her own art installation in which she had sat in the church all day to see if her presence sparked debate. Said Burka was purchased by artist and Green Party Mendip Councillor, Stina Falle back in Bradford when she needed to obscure her identity whilst using the studio facilities which had been denied her at Bradford Uni. Not one to take such authority lying down Stina challenged an unacceptable situation in her own sweet way, which is something she never shies away from in both her day to day life and her art.
“Danish by birth, she was raised as a child of the world, moving from War ravaged Germany to Iran where she grew up running naked in the gardens of a beautiful home with local children speaking Parsi, then to Tehran where they escaped in a moonlight flit from an abandoned airfield following a political coup, onward to Lebanon and then back to Blighty following a circuitous circumnavigation of the globe via Singapore and Sweden and many far flung places in between, a veritable whirlwind of a childhood all in the company of her diplomat father, Danish mother and siblings.
“Her father in his latter years authored a book entitled, ‘My Lucky Life’ not least because he had such an enriching experience of the splendid sights, people and cultures of the world but because he was a survivor. This man who once arrived at Fortnum & Mason, London for afternoon tea by cartwheeling down the red carpet had much call to celebrate life.
“A naval officer in his younger years, his ship had been sunk in a battle which saw 10 Japanese war ships pitched against just two British, with odds stacked against them and both ships sunk, 400 men spent 24 hours afloat in the sea until they were rescued by a Japanese war ship and taken to a POW camp. Surviving on a diet of grains and potato peelings, Stina’s father was ordered to dig his own grave along with his fellow prisoners, they were to be executed by firing squad later that day, until that is, the devastating atomic bomb explosions landed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
“Unusual as it is to hear that those explosions had a positive impact for some, it’s equally as unusual to hear that this remarkable man never had a bad word to say for his captors and in fact went on to write various published pieces about his experiences there. In his 90’s he visited Japan and became firm friends with the Japanese gunner from the ship that rescued him from the sea all those years before.
“Learning no less than eight languages whilst in the prison camp, her father set about convincing the powers that be that he would make a great spy. He was continuously rejected until one far-sighted person of power thought that such a determined individual was just the kind of man that they needed on their side. Thus began the idyllic, exciting, dangerous, well-travelled childhood of our Human of Frome.
“Stina has eked out a long life as an artist and maker, she is often seen sketching portraits about town or at events, and often times felting or working with textiles, always busy making. Her shows are often unapologetically challenging as her ‘Enter the Vulva’ show at Sun Street Chapel will attest. She has suffered with depression on and off over the years and is working on a body of work that takes her full circle back to the subjects derived from her own personal experiences of mental health that she dealt with in her university dissertation.
“Now settled into what most would consider a sedate life in a gentle Somerset town, she still lives at a energetic and visceral rate much as her forebears did. Her father’s family were clergymen, an honourable life but one that she was denied due to her sex. In her typical ‘You can’t keep a good woman down’ style she converted to Quakerism and lives her life by their teachings and has upheld the family tradition in her own way.
“Her political career also stems from an innate desire to continue the great work started by her elderly father who turned his varied skills to the area of international aid. Understanding the importance of the family legacy Stina has stepped forth into Mendip County Council politics where she is hoping to be a voice for many.
“A family adept in making a grand entrance, on the day we meet, Stina peeks out from behind the shed where she had been lapping up the sun rays much like she did as a child back in Iran. Fully clothed, we conduct our interview in her Goodwill Cafe surrounded by family portraits and a rich confection of paintings, drawings and textiles in varying stages of creation.
“Stina is one of those rare true originals in life, there is nobody even slightly like her, she walks her own path but one that never quite strays too far from the one beaten by her wonderful ancestors before her.
“Stina runs a Goodwill Cafe every Wednesday from 3-5pm at her house on High Street where she welcomes all to come, chat, share, create, talk through their issues or just generally socialise.
“The Humans of Frome exhibition runs throughout the Frome Festival, with a launch event on 30th June. Come along to the Silk Mill Gallery to celebrate our truly great town and her people.”
