Irena Willmott
Royston, Hertfordshire, UK
Irena is interested in the possibilities of the material felt, to convey and reflect on, the nature of ‘how we feel’ through ‘how we felt’ – often metaphorically.
From using her own body down to her thumb to impact on felt, she also combines felt with other materials such as iron, wood, gold, fabric, metal waste, aluminium cans, and hair, depending on the idea she wants to explore. She is currently using blister packs to explore entanglements, issues of waste, and in so doing, questions ideas surrounding protection, comfort and repair.
This exchange of objectboundaryhood between materials has the possibility, she has found, to shed light on in-between spaces that transcend the objects themselves, and where there is a possibility to reflect on ‘how we feel’ and ‘how we felt’.
Her work asks: What are the possibilities for connectivity and repair? Is this a straight line? Is there a way out? Or are we as entangled as felt itself?
Photographs: by the artist