Work in progress: My next installation "Adaptability"

Since April 2014, and after a long brake trying to adapt to my new home in Switzerland, I have been working in my new installation "Adaptability".

"ADAPTABILITY is about multicultural cities and its challenges.

The paradox of Globalization is that in one side is bringing us closer: standardizing quotidian objects and habits, disseminating knowledge and languages, universalizing cultures and ideologies… On the other side, it is facilitating the migration flows, what is pushing us to cohabit with other cultures and confront differences.

What a priory could bring us to a common ground, smooth differences and promote understanding; in fact it is making our cities more diverse than ever, rising cultural tensions and becoming integration a daily challenge.

Globalization, free movement policies, economic crisis… More than ever our cities are receiving people from around the world. A new model of society that integrates all this diversity is needed.

This installation is about flexibility and adaptation to space and context. The installation consist in the repetition of many small pieces to create together a bigger and more significant piece.

Although, each piece has been conceived to share a common goal and their impact on the viewer it is magnifier when unified, they also have been made to be sure that each piece can stand alone and individually produce a reaction in the observer.

Each location evokes a different arrangement, resulting each time in a unique installation with endless possibilities.

The installation pretends to awake spectator’s curiosity, moving from a first general group view to the individuality of each item, all with a touch of humour.

The pieces are abstract and loosely inspired by flowers, their seeds, fruits, buds and reproductive organs."

For this installation I have chosen to work with needle felting, because of its flexibility, and detail capacity.

The installation will be shown to the public for first time as part of the "Common Ground" exhibition.
It will be displayed from the 25th September to the 12th October in Farmleigh gallery, in Phoenix Park, my favourite craft gallery in Dublin. I will post more information soon.

First solo exhibition in CC St. Andreu, Barcelona, from the 23rd June to the 25th July

This is my first solo exhibition, and I am very happy that it is happening in my home town, Barcelona.

 The exhibition is in CC St. Andreu, a small cultural centre, with an exhibition program focused in contemporary art. And it will be running from the 23rd of June until the 25th of July.
The Centre is in charge of all the advertisement, that means: edition and printing of 600 postcards wich are distributed all over Barcelona. The exhibition is also listed in the official summer agenda from the council .

The exhibition room was really spacious, with really tall roofs. Therefore I decided not to crowd the walls and leave them light, and give to every single piece the deserved attention.

The exhibition consists in 16 felted pieces made between 2012 and 2014.

All the pieces were made with the wet felting technique.

the inspiration was still my loved lichens, and endless source of inspiration.  

There was also a more interactive corner, where the visitor, could touch and play with samples. A TV displayed the pictures that I used as inspiration. Finally, a small information point for lichens with definition and curious facts was set up too. 

All the picture were taken professionally by Roberto Ruiz 

So you know, if you are planing a city break in Barcelona, do not missed my expo! More information, here.

"Entrez en Matière!" exhibition, France

Few months ago, I received one of these unexpected emails that makes you smile. It was a student from the University of Rennes, France. She is studying a master to become art curator and as a final project they need to curate an exhibition about art and science. The main subject is the crystallography, but there is a small part dedicated to "Lichens". And here is where I come in. They were delighted when they came across my "Lichen" installation, it was a 100 % match of what they need. So they asked me permission to use my installation.
The full installation won't travel until Rennes, just pictures of the pieces. They have been printed at big scale and they will be displayed at the University of Rennes from the 9th April to the 13th June as part of the exhibition.
Check the press release to see who are the other artists taking part, here.
So if you are around, don't hesitate to pay a visit...

… it is always nice to help students to start up!

 

Exhibition 2013: "Origins: Felt in the Natural World", Dublin

 "Origins: Felt in the Natural World" was a really special exhibition for me. There were two reasons, the location and the judges. The exhibition took place in one of my favourites places in Dublin, the National Botanic Gardens. While living in Ireland we used to spend many Sundays afternoons there, we loved to see how the seasons changed the garden, it was a really inspiring place for us.

The exhibition was curated by Gabriella McGrath, the judges were Carmel Creaner and Caroline Scofield. Caroline is a fantastic Textile artist I find fascinating her needle felted pieces. It was an honour to be selected by her.

The two selected pieces were an up-cycling of "Lichens pieces", a shelf and a frame.

The pictures were taken professionally by Joana Sieczkowska

If you want to check the full exhibition, check here

Exhibition 2013: Suave 5 - Spain and Portugal

2013 was a quiet year from a felting and posting point of view, but I was very pleased with my participation in two international exhibitions, the first was "Suave 5".

"Suave 5" is an international triennial exhibition about fashion textile accessories and it is organised by ACTM (textile creative association of Madrid). 

Previous "Suave" editions displayed pieces from feltmakers of the size of Dagmar Binder (Suave 2 and 4) and Annette Quentin-Stoll (Suave 3 and 4). So as you can imagine, I was totally thrilled, when I knew that my scarf "Barcelona" was selected.

More exciting was to see my piece in the Official poster.

"Suave 5" was shown, first time in Spain from the 30th May to the 30th June 2013 in the "Museo Nacional de las Artes Decoartivas", in the historical center of Madrid. The exhibition received a total of 3,552 visitants, and it was the temporal exhibition with more visitants that the Museum had, it was a real success. 

You can check a review of the Madrid Television, here.

Afterwards, the exhibition traveled to Portugal, it was in display as part of the contemporary art exhibition "Peninsulares" in the "Instituto do Design" in Guimaräes, from the 20th July to the 30th August. 

The exhibition was supposed to travel to Medellín, Colombia to participate to the VII  Biennial of Textile Art and Design on March 2014,  but unfortunately, this was cancelled.

You can have a virtual tour to the exhibition here, and check about this edition artists, here.

Irish times talking about my Lichens!

I recently discovered this article in the Irish time; published on the 9th July 2012; the journal reviews the 2012 summer art offer in Dublin for Babies and parents. My installation "Lichens" is mentioned:
"...But babies of all ages are welcome to attend Ark events, and the centre’s current exhibition, Awakening Curiosity, has much to stimulate the young mind. Inga Hamilton’s Evolutionary Tweak and Natzaret Sindreu’s Lichen are tactile crocheted reefs and giant lichens; a multitude of textures and shapes to stimulate tiny hands and feet..."

Read the full article here:  Young at art

Interview at The Ark's Awakening Curiosity exhibition

 Natzaret Sindreu talks about her work on show at The Ark's Awakening Curiosity exhibition for families, summer 2012.

"Meet the Lichens' world": the book

"Meet the Lichen's world" is the book that support "Lichen" installation. If you want to discover 19 funny and interesting facts about Lichens have a look to this beautifully illustrated book. (Click on Book Preview)

Meet the Liche...

They are everywher...

By Natzaret Sindreu B...

Book Preview

Text by Natzaret Sindreu Box
Designed and illustrated by Riccardo Cereser

Lichen

"Lichen" is the second installation commissioned by the ARK. It is an artsicence installation about texture, colour and environment. The installation include an illustrated book with information, facts and curiosities about Lichens; and three large handcrafted tactile wall placed around 3 columns, made from felted wool, silk and other textiles. The pieces are inspired by Lichen's colours and textures. Nature, Our Environment, Sciences and Art converge in "Lichen", blending the four elements in one and smoothing the borders between them. From an artistic perspective the installation focus on colour and texture, stimulating sight and touch. From a scientific perspective, the visitor is introduced to the fascinating world of Lichens. The installation aim to help the visitor to recognise and identify Lichens; to encourage the visitor to look for them in trunks and branches and use them as environmental indicators.

Enjoy the video!



Video Filmed and edited by Riccardo Cereser (www.rikishere.com)
Music:"Robot Anthem Part II" by Learning Music (http://www.learningmusicmonthly.com/)

Natural Colours

Natural colours is one of the installations that I made for The ARK.

It consists in a serie of colourful hanging pieces.

The pieces has been distributed between two wood walls at the entrance of The ARK.

They consist in cute creatures...

...created from the repetition of balls, different sizes and colours.

The installation is aimed to a young public, children from 2 and 12 years.

The pieces are needle felted with wool and dyed with natural colours from vegetables.

The installation focus on number, shape, size and colour for the youngest ones...

...and pattern and chemist for the eldest ones; as natural dyeing is a pure chemist process were acids and bases play an important role.

Two commissions for The ARK

If this blog has been unattended it is because I have been extremely busy working in two commissions for “Awaking curiosity” exhibition, organised by The ARK in Temple Bar, Dublin.

Early this year, The Ark was looking for installations that fusion art and science.

Considering that I define myself as a Scientist with a passion for Textile Crafts and Nature. And since 2010, I combine my job as a Chemist with Feltmaking. “Awaking curiosity” was just the perfect project for me.

I submitted two proposals, and both were selected. Now finished ans installed!

1)“Natural Colours” is about natural dying with common vegetables.

2) “Lichens” is inspired by the colours and textures of Lichens found in the Nature.

It is the first time that I am working with large installations and that caused few logistic troubles.

First, I need to get my 800g of "Savon de marseille" with olive oil. It is the best and quite cheap in France. My boyfriend bought in his last trip.

Second, I needed an Studio. So, our guest room was converted into a Studio. The bed was removed and a large IKEA table was assembled with big boxes under to store all my wool. The Studio was perfect, south facing, nice light.... But when we had guests, we gave them our bed and we need to sleep on the floor!

Awaking curiosity is running from the 14th of May until the 6th of August. The first six weeks it is opened to schools groups; and since the 23rd of June, it will be opened to all public.

Keep an eye on this blog, I’ll post more pictures and Information!

New book!!! "Profiles in Felt" and I'm in; so exciting!!

Last Friday evening was the launch of ‘Profiles in Felt", the first Feltmakers Ireland book.

 It is a collection of the work and stories of 44 feltmakers in Ireland. Each work is different, reflecting the wide flexibility of feltmaking

I'm in page 77 & 78. The two pieces that I choose for the book are my kinitting giraffe and a pixi sitting in a branch with two mushrooms. The two of them needle felted, of course!

It is a beautiful and inspiring publication.

Here you have my story:

" I work as a Scientist but textile crafts have always been my passion. My love of handmade craft goes back to my childhood in Barcelona, where my first teachers were my wonderfully talented grandmother and mother. They taught me sewing, embroidery, knitting, crocheting and macramé. In 2007 I moved to Ireland, a lot of things changed in my life. Ireland offer me the opportunity to invest seriosly in craft. In 2008 I opened my on-line shop on the selling plataform Dawanda. At that time my work was crochet or sewn pieces, I sell gifts and accessories for adults and kids, at the beginning they were crocheted or sewed. It was thanks to some German craftmakers from the same selling platformthat I discovered  felting; this was new for me and I was amazed. I am a self-taught felt maker. I took to needle felting from the beginning.

Detail, colour, simplicity and texture define my style. I concentrate on sculpting small, detailed three dimensional figures. My products are fun  and childlike.My inspiration comes from the materials themselves, my admiration for Nature and my childhood memories. For me it is essential to work with natural materials like wool. In a society constantly running against the clock, I like to invest all the necessary time to make individual and unique pieces to a very high level. I like the playful side of wet felting and the intuitive side of needle felting. Needle felting is a fun art with a wide range of applications, that suits my lifestyle. It is natural and ecofriendly; very little is needed, just few tools, a small table and lot of imagination.
I feel that I’m just at the beginning. There is so much to do that I will need a life-time to achieve it. In 2010 I joined Feltmakers IReland and then started teaching needle felting which I really enjoy. I do wish to keep teaching, especially in other countries as I speak French and Spanish. I would like to do larger pieces and submit to exhibitions. And maybe one day I will be able to live from my carft; my boyfriend and I have a dream to live suistanibly from our garden and craft in his house in the French country side."

Nuno felted dresses with Charity Van der Meer!

I'm so proud of my nuno felted dress!!

I made this dress in a three days workshop organised by FeltmakersIreland. The teacher was Charity Van der Meer, an amazing fashion design from Zambia but living in Holland.

She works with just one layer of extrafine Merino on silk ponge or chiffon. (I used red chiffon).

She has up to 50 % of shrinkage and lays the fibres on the direction that she wants the shrinkage happening. That's how she shapes the dress. (It's hard to belive that you can get a dress from that, isn't it?)

From the same pattern we got many different dresses and jackets.

Mine is pure colour madness! I had a very busy time recently and I planned to buy my wool the week before the workshop, but plans changed at last minute and instead of been in Wicklow buying my wool and silk I finished in Connemara hillwalking and kayaking against the wind!! So, for my dress I just took all the wool and fabrics that I had at home: three different greens, reds, whites and blacks!!

I paniked a litlle bite, I didn't know how to put all together without looking like a clown. Thanks to Clodagh who carded all the wool together for the tops, bringing all the colours together beatufully and thanks to Charity who helped me with the surface embellishment.

I'm very pleased with the result, but I hope that it's the last time that I left the shopping for last minute!!

The dresses are so nice to wear, they adapt to your body, just showing the best of you!! And moreover they are reversible!! What else can you ask to a dress?

Check here and here to see more of Charity's work. It's just faboulous!!