Marjolein dallinga biography of alberta
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I look at all kinds of art really, from visual art, painting and drawing, to film, sculpture and video and I listen a lot to music. I am very thrifty with materials and I like to reuse materials in other ways. So the main focus in felting for me is colour and texture. I like to make a stream of things; I like a good volume of work where one thing leads to another, with one expression leading to another.
I have subscriptions to several magazines about felting and fibre arts.
Skin 3, 2011, 220-200 cm, wool felted hand dyed, photo: FAhri Javuz, Model: Denis Bergeron |
As a child I loved to play with bits of fabric and yarn with which I made all kinds of things.
It is a combination of handwork and painting. I used to make toys and bags and scarves and all that stuff but since my child grew up, I'm not doing any toys anymore.
Nowadays, what I did with painting is coming back in my work.
In architecture, I love Gaudi (Spain) and Hundertwasser (Austria); they give me a world of dreams and imagination.
It does not really matter how, as long as it moves. “I work very experimentally,” she says.
Alan Folds, 2009, 90-80 cm, wool felted with organza, photo: Marjolein Dallinga |
The possibilities to exhibit my work and the numerous opportunities to meet other artists.
Skin1,and hat, 2011, Wool felted,hand dyed., Design for WOW, NZ 2011, photo: FAhri Javuz, model: Noémie Glen |
World of Wearable Art: August 26th 2011, Wellington New Zealand
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Heart, 2011, 40-35 cm, wool felted, 2011, photo: Marjolein Dallinga |
Marjolein Dallinga: The Space Between Art and Craft
Marjolein is a fibre artist and in her Friday Feature Artist interview with us Marjolein shared her passion for wool, her philosophy on failure and how she is influenced by craft.
Marjolein's Friday Feature Artist Interview can be found at the bottom of this page.
Marjolein Dallinga is an incredibly talented and renowned contemporary felt artist.
So I'm not scared of my mistakes.
I learned not to be upset about my mistakes because it hurts a bit in the beginning, you get upset and I still feel that, but I got comfortable with that uncomfortable feeling. It is the magical aspect of felting which never ceases to surprise me.
Felting is a friendly art, full of forgiveness and it combines wonderfully with other textile techniques.
Some felters who I admire and who have had a great influence on my work, are Dagmar Binder, Claudy Jongstra, Janice Arnold, Jori Johnson, Keilo (Japan), Agostina Zwilling to name a few. Dumas, along with Louise Bourgeois, (especially her fiber works), Annette Messenger (France), Kiki Smith (USA) are big examples for me as a female artist.
I looked for small and labour intensive projects such as making day/travel books, which I would bind and fill with small drawings and paintings. That developed into making things to order, but the most exciting outcome is the experimental nature of her work with Cirque du Solell. I wanted to get more movement out of the canvases and framed pictures, so I started sewing pictures, patchwork, quilting and combining materials which resulted in making art books, which I hand bound with textile materials.
My lifelong fascination with ancient crafts, folk art and decorative art led me to use them to lighten up traditional painting.
My grandmother as well as my mother did craftwork, and as a young girl I was sent to a craft school, where they made all kinds of beautiful things out of various materials. Artists who see their world in a material light also inspire me. I look a lot at photography books and books about nature and the body. I know it's not easy.
“A year of trial and error, but I was totally making toys in the beginning for my child. I have an enormous need to express that world.