Touched: a soft sculpture exhibit is a fiber art exhibition that opened October, 3rd in Nashville, Tennessee. It can be visited at the Ground Floor Gallery and Studios until October 29th.
I am writing a blog entry about this exhibition because fiber art is a true passion for us at DHG, and also because we know some of the artist who are taking part in the show very well, and we like their way of making art with wool. In fact, we love their work so much that we have collaborated - or will soon collaborate - with some of them. The collective, brought together for this exhibition by Shana Kohnstamm, is made up of 13 artists from the USA, Canada, the UK, and the Netherlands.
One of the artists is Andrea Graham, a multi-media artist and a felt-maker whose style is truly unique. Her soft sculptures carry a very important message: we should protect the Earth by using natural resources responsibly. Andrea's seeds, cocoons, funny characters and installations take me to a whole different world, an attractively alien world. Andrea has created some seminal work and is now a much sought-after teacher all over the world.
Zoe Williams is also part of the group. She uses needle felt to create snow-white creatures. Indeed, one of her peculiarities is that she uses almost exclusively white wool to create what she calls "oracles": animals with strange names, with real or surreal shapes, guarding the Past and watching over the Present and the Future. These animals are often presented like trophies to be hung on the walls. I am mad about them, and I would devote a whole room to them if I could.
Finally, Shana Kohnstamm, who is the curator of the exhibition as well as a contributor, is a felt artist whom I discovered while browsing the web. I was looking for passionate and talented felt makers for the DHG Charity Project/Art Gallery and I came across her. The first images I saw of her sculptures were pictures of “Aculeus” and I was so deeply impressed that I immediately called her. Shana is a also a painter, and that, I believe, affects her felt work, which is characterized by lively colors and rich textures with many different, almost watercolor-like shades. Shana created her works both with wet felting and with needle felting. She says she makes art as an antidote to the ugliness of the world - that is nice, isn't it?
Many other interesting fiber artists are taking part in this exhibition. Please visit the Touched: a soft sculpture exhibit website to discover all of the artists - and it's definitely worth it! And of course, if you happen to pass through Nashville, just pop in and take a look!
If you liked this article maybe you would also enjoy Needle Felting in a Nutshell – New Episodes
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