Looking back through the artists I have researched for this module, the ones that stand out for form, texture, structure and pattern are Anneke Copier, Vincent Floderer and Issey Miyake. After reviewing my own work, I have researched further artists, techniques and cultures for additional inspiration sources that will extend my work and help to develop my personal voice.

Anneke Copier

Copier is amazing in the way that she doesn’t limit her pieces to one ‘function’. She uses her felt to create striking forms that she develops into wearables, art, in building construction and even felt coffins! Her work shows such a thorough understanding of the properties of wool and felt; the sound and heat insulation properties of wool for building installations, the pure beauty of wool for art and the adaptability of felt for fashion. Copier is also a supporter of fair trade, sustainable practice.

Sources:

21st Century Amsterdam. 2017. Anneke Copier. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.21stcenturyamsterdam.com/anneke-copier.html. [Accessed 28 May 2017].

Felt for Arcitecture by Claudio Varone and Anneke Copier. 2017. Felt for Arcitecture by Claudio Varone and Anneke Copier. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.annekecopier.nl/wandtapijten.html. [Accessed 28 May 2017].

Anneke Copier in Suja Collectif. 2017. Anneke Copier in Suja Collectif. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.annekecopier.nl/suja.html. [Accessed 28 May 2017].

Fay Maxwell

Maxwell is a textile artist specialising in embroidery. Inspired by Indian textiles in particular, she uses traditional crewel work combined with Kantha, Shisha and gives them a new twist in her very decorative work.

I am particularly drawn to her work with layered textiles, slashing through the layers to expose a wide range of colours and patterns. I would like to explore this technique, experimenting with the scope for adapting it to felted fabrics.

Yukako Sorai

Sorai is an award-winning Japanese textile artist who has exhibited her work extensively worldwide. She describes her work as being “created by the magic confluence of lights and forms. My works condense multiple layers of colors and manifest a continuous epiphany of chromatic nuances, which scoop out organic patterns and shapes. Natural mirabilia and uncanny forms inhabit my works, which become receptacles of the fabulous. Felt transforms into sculptural fibers, from which an attractive power is permanently emanated”.

Sorai’s intuitive and bold use of colour is spectacular and appeals strongly to my own preference for bright, high impact colour combinations. The simple shapes are given life by revealing the multiple layers of colour ‘hidden’ in the body of the each piece.

Svetlana Gordon

Gordon is a knitwear designer from Ukraine, living in Moscow her family having fled to Moscow due to civil unrest. Gordon describes her influences as being drawn from Asian culture, its ornaments decorative and colourful. Designer influences are Kenzo for colour, Dior for elegance and Gaultier for creativity.

I am drawn to Gordon’s use of texture and colour, in particular the soft, sensual curves, unusual pattern constructions and striking use of design elements.

Jana Muchalski

Muchalski is a very spiritual designer, describing herself as a Wolfsfrauen (literally Wolf’s women or wild women). Muchalski’s art is colourful, instinctive and exudes joy. Her life philosophy and work as an art therapist, natural practitioner and free spirit shines through in her art. It is this expression of freedom through colour and shape that I admire in her work and how she transforms natural wool through dyeing, spinning and felting, into luscious works of art.

Source:

Sacred Wild Ways. 2017. Sacred Wild Ways. [ONLINE] Available at: http://sacredwildways.de/wolfsfrauen-interview-jana-muchalski/. [Accessed 29 May 2017].

Dagmar Binder

Binder’s textural work with felt is simply stunning. I love her unique use of shape, colour and how it is incorporated into vessels, wearables, pieces of art. Binder describes her inspiration as ‘Combining painting with coloured fibers, 3D felting and other textile techniques, I am exploring the expressive and sculptural potential of felt.’

Dezeen

Not a specific artist but an amazing resource when looking for pattern, structure, inspiration and ideas from across all media; fashion, art, architecture, nature, interiors. I love to start with an idea and follow my instincts, roving through the site until something catches my eye. It can be challenging to narrow down my sphere of inspiration but invariably I get caught up in a style, architect, designer or project that leads me to inspiration for my own work. For example, for this module I explored ‘pleats’, finding some stunning art.

Source:

https://www.dezeen.com/tag/pleats/

Shyrdak Rugs

The Shyrdak is a felted wool rug traditionally made by the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz. Traditionally made by women as with many labor-intensive traditional skills, the making of these rugs is in decline, such that they are listed on the Unesco Heritage Skills list. A fascinating film about the process and tradition can be found here:

What appeals to me about these rugs is the use of striking patterns and bold colours. Individual motifs have specific meaning, making them more than simply practical or utilitarian pieces. I would very much like to make a full-size version of one of these rugs!

Fenella Elms

Turning to a completely different medium, artist Fenella Elms works in porcelain slip to create the most intricate and delicate freestanding and wall-mounted sculptures.

 She says of her work:

“I keep fish, bees, ducks and sheep and take pleasure in noticing how a feather holds together, bees build, flowers unfold and sheep gather in a co-operative stance. I don’t seek to put what I see into clay: I notice movement, growth, structure and interaction and it seeps into the process. With this approach, it is possible to find a way through the visual to reach an expression of the experience”. 

Having watched the Great Pottery Throwdown I have seen the simultaneous joys and challenges of working with such a fine medium as porcelain and this makes Elms’ incredibly detailed work even more impressive. At first glance, her pieces could easily be mistaken for fine fabric constructions, with intricate folds, fluid loops and sweeping motions. I would like to take some of this fluid form and shape into my own work.

I find myself ‘reassured’ that Elms embraces the pleasure of making and pursuing an idea as much as the outcome. There is a very expressive series of images on Elms’ website that encapsulates the clear joy she feels in her work. This seems to me appropriate in the context of our objectives as part of this module – experimentation, no fear of failure, learning through both the things that work and those that don’t.