Event
Colours of Africa
Adress:
De Oude Pastorij
Essendonk 3
2910 Essen
Belgium
Sponsored by:
Mia Verbruggen
Making the invisible visible
I was born into a family of tailors and grew up surrounded by fabrics. Even at a very early age, the tailor's workshop held no more mysteries for me. Instead, I was fascinated by the containers with off-cuts, the patterns put up against the walls and the fabrics. I started off making clothes for my dolls, later on for myself, followed by dressing my children in my own designs.
Eventually I was drawn into the world of patchwork but soon found myself dissatisfied with the fabrics I could buy. Creating my own fabrics through dyeing and designing was a natural development and this openend the way to following a course in textiles, in the broadest sense of the word, at the School of Art in Mol, Belgium. A magical world of techniques and materials unfolded before my eyes. I stayed at the school for 8 years, as well as following many workshops in different countries.
During the course I made the most wonderful discovery : how to make felt. This was not only an eye-opener, it soon became my passion. For me, the transformation of tufts of wool into a piece of fabric symbolises life : something that grows, that moves, that is being created. Different layers become connected and you use loose particles to create something which is whole. I compare this to the road which you walk during you life.
you layer different experiences on top of each other, creating a form which represents your life. Serendipity plays a part in this, creating new possibilities and introducing you to different aspects of the material. In the same way, coincidence can give your life a surprising turn.
This is why I find felt to be the perfect material through which I can express my inner self, making the transformations in me visible to the outside world. I therefore use felt, and other materials, not only to create wall-hangings, but to make sculptures and to show the many possibilities offered by this humble material which has for centuries been used to give warmth to mankind.