Title: Let’s Dance
A fascination with light on and through felt inspires much of my work. This piece, part of an exhibition on inclusion, takes kaleidoscopic strobe lighting as its central image. I used to love to dance and am still inspired by images and music of flash mobs, spontaneous dancing, rave, bhangra and trance. It is no coincidence that the figures are indistinguishable by gender, race, religion, sexuality or any characteristic that people may experience as ‘other’. The figures are joyous, reaching for the light and experimenting with shapes, pattern and shadows – mirroring the inside of a kaleidoscope and my process in making ‘Let’s dance’.
Nuno felting entangles the various fibres together, causing distortion, rippling and transformation as fibres become bonded together. It’s a joyous creative process that is also meditative for the felt maker. Every piece responds differently to the combination of fibres, temperature and agitation. I love that this is somewhat outside the control of the artist. Working on this was a challenge as I rarely do figurative work and seldom include straight lines and sharp edges. This is edgier for me - also joyous, transformative and from the heart.
Materials and Techniques
Nuno felt, free machine embroidery, local fleece (texel/clun x) hand-carded and dyed, merino, silk, upcycled saris and ribbons, synthetic organza.
Click each image below to enlarge the artwork
