Duke Hospital Exhibit - Sculptural Feltmaking by Cynthia Mollenkopf
Sculptural Feltmaking - Artifelts
Felting: The process of compressing fibers into a nonwoven fabric.
Objects and art are created during the felting process or by using flat felted fabric as a medium.
In wet felting, water & soap, rubbing & rolling are used to entangle the fibers & create both a physical & chemical bond resulting in a permanent fabric. In needle felting, barbed needles are used to create a physical entanglement of the fibers.
Common fibers used include: sheep's wool, mohair, angora, alpaca, llama.
For the items in this exhibit, the wool is distributed in layers around a single or multiple resists before and during the process of wet felting. After the fibers have developed some structure, the resists are removed and wet felting continues until a firm fabric has been formed. Finally, the spaces created by the resists allow for the item to be expanded and shaped into 3 dimensional forms using stretching, rubbing, and steam.
Cynthia Mollenkopf
Apex, NC
**At this time Arts and Health exhibits are only available to DUH staff members and patients/visitors who have appointments within the hospital.