Installations
Dividing materials into smaller pieces, rearranging them and assembling them into a new, larger whole is a common theme in my studio practice. The process of reshaping physical materials is very tactile and sensual and I wanted to bring that experience into ‘FELT’. The audience is invited to engage with pieces of industrial wool felt that are stitched together to form flexible strands that undulate and hang from an armature above. Industrial felt is compressed wool and it’s natural characteristics are dense, stiff and durable but it retains a fuzzy quality that is enticing to our hands.
By integrating the visual sense with the sense of touch I can offer the viewer an experience that is often “forbidden” in galleries, especially with fibers. Although the wool is colored in reds, greens, blacks, browns, whites and grays, I installed the work in the vicinity of a large window to intensify the contrast of the positive and negatives spaces created by the small shapes of wool that are intended to be felt.