BURNING WOOL & CLAY

Being an artist in residence in Joya Air I got the possibility to mix local clay with the brought-along wool of Drentsheath sheep. Inspired by the ancient architecture in Sardinië, Spanisch and Scottish scientists did already research on the effects of mixing those two materials. It showed a super strong result for building blocks, although after adding alginate and working with pressure and without firing. Being in Spain and not in Italy I have completely other reasons to make this mixture with soil and wool, often a by-product in agriculture.

The dikes I encountered in the gulch near my temporary dwelling place have fallen into disrepair. They should hold water that brings life, but they can´t do that anymore. In a clumsy attempt I tried to repair the dikes, but of course, this was an impossible task. Still, this act was a way for me to show how important it is to hold on to life. By taking the fragments of clay-wool out of the dikes and heating them in the wood oven, the wool burned in de shard and left a black void.

In this way, the fragments have become memories of what I loved most and is now no longer in my life.

Within my artistic research process, I always try to find parallels between making felt and land cultivation. Inspired by the traces in the surface of land, cultivation and the entanglement of humans and soil, I keep my artistic work going. Now, during this residency in the mountains of Andalusië, I will research the loss of the most essential material part of my work: wool. This experience is a demarcation of my grieving process, made visible in my artistic work, since the passing of my dear husband.