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| Award wining felt wallhanging "Cercle" by felt artist Maria Friese |
Those of
you who read my blog on a regular base, definitively know my good friend and
talented felt artist Maria Friese. These last 5-6 years we‘ve done several
expositions together and I stated them on this blog. For example our latest
and very successful one - a retrospective of our work in Clermont Ferrand.
It’s always fun and constructive to work with
Maria and I’m very happy to have her by my side for our Feltworker ExperimentN°1!
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| sculptural felt art inspired by nature - a one of a kind Maria Friese design |
Maria is formed
in Textile Design but now a days sees herself more as an artist. Born in
Germany, she lives and works for more than 10 years in Southwest France, near Toulouse, in a
picturesque natural countryside. From her Atelier she has a spectacular view on
the Pyrenean Mountains.
Initially
specialized on weaving techniques, Maria came across feltmaking nearly at the
end of her textile design studies. This discovery blew her mind away and
completely changed her life! In opposite to all textile techniques she tried
out before, feltmaking opened up endless possibilities especially in surfaces
and three-dimensional design. She was that
fascinated by all these possibilities to explore, that she fully jumped into
this art and became a fulltime felt artist.
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| Felt vase bu Maria Friese - felt design |
Since 2006
Maria runs her own workshop. Her work is presented in French Galleries and
expositions all over Europe. In 2013, her work “Cycle” – a monumental
three-dimensional Wall hanging - won the “Young Designer Award” by Atelier Art
de France. This precious prize honors excellent art of talented young designers
and artists on an annual base.
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| monumental, award winning felt art wall hanging by Maria Friese - felt design |
Maria’s
work is inspired by nature and geometry. Primarily it’s the geometry of natural
forms, inhabiting all living elements, that fascinates her. As she says in her
own words: “Analyzing and translating symmetrical orders into an art object
allows me to connect with natural creation.
Small but very poetic irregularities just happen and make the objects
vivid and organic. That's what I like in felting."
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| Inspired by nature and geometry - felt art by Maria Friese |
The hidden,
inconspicuous and unusual of underwater creatures, seed pods, plants, unusual
structures and fossils in nature, captivates the artist every day and makes her
affirm: "Sometimes I feel like a
kind of" Felt archaeologist”. Always looking for new secret forms and
creatures.”
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| Wonderrful worked out detail by felt artist Maria Friese |
The artist
loves challenges and in each single project tries to push her own skills a
little further. She explores the possibilities of three-dimensional and relief
techniques. Her high quality felt work
has stunningly smooth surfaces and fascinates by its meticulous elaboration.
Pattern and reliefs are worked out with poetry and bluffing details. Maria
loves to work felt in a manner which seems to be oppose to its qualities. On
first sight her objects seem to be ceramics, but on closer look warmth and
vitality - caused by the character of sheep wool - radiate.
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| Unusual Underwater Creatures - Maria Friese - felt design |
For Maria felting
is a proper art form and the most appropriated to implement her own personal style.
It allows interpreting her feelings for nature and life in her very own
language. It’s Art with a huge A.
To get deeper insights in Maria's art work check these links:
https://www.facebook.com/MariaFrieseFeltDesign/
