• Felting becomes interesting, When the transformative properties of wool fibers are forced to react upon unlikely materials

    Felting becomes interesting

    When the transformative properties of wool fibers are forced to react upon unlikely materials

    I create sculpted textiles of handmade felt that explore material and environmental relationships; How they gain from, form or respond to stress and disorder. 

     

    At the center of my current work, linear layouts of wool ribs are entwined and tangled (felted) into delicate woven fabrics (cheesecloth) with soap, water, and intense agitation; rubbing and kneading wool fibers until they tightly bond.

     

    Combining the process of felting (in which wool fibers become better/ more dense/ more robust through the rigorous process) into materials that respond reversely to this intense process is a focus of exploration. When prepared in layers against the binding wool, lightweight woven fabrics are stressed, with warp threads dispersed and consumed into the wool, leaving only a fragile syntax.

     

    The result is a complex textile that is dense and robust in one direction, sinewy with ethereal understructure in the other. Sculptural forms emerge from these textiles inspired by relationships and evolution in nature and the fluidity of the materials themselves.

     
       PROCESS OF FELTMAKING   
      
    foundation in woodwork
     
     CV
  • I am deeply moved by the transformative qualities of wool and plant fibers, which, when plied correctly, parallel environmental transformations; Birth, fruition, decay. Formations of water, earth and sky, emerge as if breathing and alive. My hands translate this energy and these textures from nature into new form using altered methods of a timeless craft.