A workshop organised as part of the School of Sculpture
curated by Oriana Impei
The entire series entitles participants to 2 CFA (upon attendance at three meetings)
Limited places on the promoter course
For info and registration, write to Oriana Impei: o.impei@abaroma.it
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Meetings: Monday 16 January, Monday 13 and Tuesday 14 February from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm.
On 13/14 February, she will participate in person from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm., in classroom 3A of Campo Boario, the artist Diana Biscaioli will meet the students of the School of Sculpture, to bring the students of the Academy closer to professionals, artists in an intensive workshop, with the use of a natural material starting from carded wool, working it with needle and water techniques, to create three-dimensional sculptures and bas-reliefs.
The aim is to create completely organic, environmentally friendly works through sheep’s wool.
What is felt: felt is a fabric produced by the felting of animal fleece (mainly sheep’s wool). It was the first “non-woven fabric” produced by humans.
Although it is very old, this technique is constantly evolving. Every year, expert felt makers develop original techniques for working with wool and other plant and animal fibres, such as nuno felt, which combines wool and silk, or stitched shibori and felt to achieve sculptural effects. Natural dyeing techniques such as eco-printing for printing with leaves and flowers on wool and silk are also particularly interesting.
There are two felting techniques. In the water-based technique, the process begins by laying the wool in overlapping layers, after which the fibres are wetted with the addition of Marseille soap, massaged, fullered and finally beaten until they are felted into the desired shape. Once the felt has been formed, the process is irreversible.
While the water technique is very old, the needle technique is recent, dating back to the late 1980s, when a craftsman discovered that the barbed needle used in the production of industrial felt could sculpt carded wool.
Why felt: felt is an extremely versatile, multifunctional, warm, soft, enveloping, waterproof material and it’s also a little bit magical! Working with it is fun and relaxing. Depending on the technique used, water-based or dry (with needles), its effect on the psyche can be liberating or restraining. Each session will be divided into two parts:
- Theoretical part and demonstrations: this will vary from time to time. Initially, we will start with the basics, a presentation of the various fibres used for felting, an analysis of various artefacts made with them. Different techniques, design. Subsequently, depending on the designs chosen by each person, there will be a demonstration with the whole group to study how to create the various shapes, differentiating the techniques.
- Creation of the work: Starting from carded wool, we will use the needle or water technique to create the various parts to be subsequently assembled on the metal wire structure created during the design phase.
Diana Biscaioli: is a textile artist specialising in art mediation counselling (art therapy).
She is passionately dedicated to the art of felting, a technique she has been teaching since 2010 in the most varied contexts, to people and groups of all ages.
In 2012, she took part in the exhibition “Il feltro dello sciamano sulle orme di Joseph Beuys” and in “Open Design Italia” with her felt creations. Abroad, she has exhibited in New York, Amsterdam and Prague.
In 2012, she joined the Coordinamento Tessitori, actively participating in the association’s activities by promoting the textile arts through events, exhibitions, conferences, courses, activities and talks, and she is the editor of the magazine Tessere a mano.
She also takes part in international “artistic doll” exhibitions organised by the Belgian foundation “Dabida”, of which she is a member.
In 2016, she took part in the “Apostoli” Contemporary Art Collective at the Hands gallery in Vicenza, with her mixed media felted wool sculptures.
She creates puppets for puppet theatre, marionettes and string puppets, and has collaborated with various authors, directors and actresses, including Giuseppe Festa, Valentina Salerno and Letizia Volpicelli.
In the field of education, she has led workshops with all types of schools, from nursery to secondary school, in classrooms as an external teacher, and in the field of art education she has worked in Rome for Coop culture in the various museums assigned to them. In the province of Varese, she has worked for the network of civic archaeological museums and for the Rocca di Angera. Over a period of about ten years, she has led workshops in play centres, squares (during events and markets), summer camps, residential communities (group homes, residences for the elderly), libraries and hospitals, as well as at fairs and festivals.
She has taught the art of felting to various groups of adults, educators, teachers and artists. Before the pandemic, she worked for a year as a craftsman with Roberto Cuoghi’s Retrobalera and taught the technique to his collaborators.