Susan J Sperl

My feltwork is informed by twenty-five years as a dancer, as well as by an apprenticeship to a Parisian-trained milliner. These art forms, which are especially attuned to movement, fluidity, alignment and position in space, are the foundation for my love of the transformative qualities of wool and water. While felting is a natural transition from hat making, it is dance that has most directly impacted the sense of movement in my work.

 

Preparation for new work with sheep fleece involves sampling for color, shape, design and shrinkage. However, it is the spontaneous decision making during the final wet felting process that I find most exciting, where the unlimited painterly and sculptural possibilities of felt are revealed.