Pre-study Matters of the Heart

Pre-study for degree work, 2021
Series of three sculptures in basswood and textile

The human body has always been highly present in my work, as I previously have studied fashion design. When switching context to textiles, this key factor was lost. I wanted to achieve an activation of the textile by involving it in conversation with a form or material apart from itself, without using a human body.

I turned to wood carving using a chisel and a hammer, shaping the pieces with images of twisting human limbs in mind.

I made dents into the materials where I intended to place textile bands and strings, as if the textile were shaping the wood like a real body, a soft one made of flesh and blood.

After the carving and treating of the wood I dressed the objects with textile material in the shape of bows, flowers and garters. The meeting of the two materials; the rough wood and precise textile, fascinated me, as well as the act of gendering an abstract shape. This formed the base of my master degree work Matters of the Heart.