printmaking
Studio Work
8 Taper Candles
Hand-felted wool, 18” x 11.75”, 20248 Taper Candles is a thick, non-woven textile, wet and dry felted using Corriedale wool. This was one of the first pieces I made after moving away from my home state, marking a period of upheaval and renewal. The eight candles, marbled in varying colors, symbolize my life's steady yet sudden shifts—unpredictable but ultimately illuminating. As I settled into a new environment, felting became a tactile way to process change, its repetitive motions being both grounding and meditative. The resilience of wool, bound together through friction and pressure, mirrored my process of adapting to unfamiliar surroundings.
The visual composition of the piece references my background in printmaking, with the colorful forms floating centrally against a white, amorphous, rectangular background—resembling a CMYK print on deckled paper. Like printmaking, felting involves layering and a balance between control and unpredictability. When marbling the candles, I had no way of knowing exactly how the colors would settle or how flame-like their shapes would appear. Despite using the same process for each one, every candle took on a unique form, reinforcing the organic nature of the medium and the imagery, much like the process of change itself.