Woolen Clouds by Washington state-based artist Janice Arnold will be installed in the main lobby of Nancy Nicholas Hall as part of the upcoming Feel the Beat: Felted Textiles exhibition with the Center for Design and Material Culture.
Woolen Clouds by textile artist Janice Arnold will float and flow through the central lobby of the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison from July 29, 2024-January 5, 2025. This installation sets the tone for the Center for Design and Material Culture’s fall exhibition, Feel the Beat: Felted Textiles, on view in the Lynn Mecklenburg Textile Gallery from September 4-December 1, 2024.j
Trickling into the lobby, halls and stairways like an icy breeze, Woolen Clouds is a site-specific installation of nearly 4,000 ft² (372 m2) of Arnold’s hand-felted wool. This two-story, immersive installation floating delicately above visitors as they enter the building, offers a surprising contrast to conventional perceptions of felt. To enhance the experience, Arnold is turning the lobby columns into towering huggable tree trunks, along with a video capturing glimpses of her process and photographic explorations into a newly discovered world within her textiles.
Arnold spent a year creating this series of pieces which she refers to as ‘nomadic felt’. The work is the result of a 3.5-year experience as primary caregiver for her elderly parents in her childhood home. Woolen Clouds poetically combines art, history, and science to tell tales of pain, growth, beauty, and enlightenment. It brings to physical form the tension between strength and fragility in the cycle of life and death.
Expanding further, Arnold shares “Every piece of Felt I make is rooted in ancient Central Asian tradition and inspired by Nomadic philosophy. I’m delighted and honored to share this interactive piece and perhaps expand and inspire new perceptions of felted wool.”
About the Artist:
Janice Arnold is a Washington state-based artist with over 40 years of experience and is recognized internationally as a textile artist who continues to change the way people think about felt, both as fabric and art. She has studied a wide variety of textile traditions and approaches her art and projects with curiosity — artistically, intellectually, and technically. Arnold has researched and worked with nomadic tribes of Central Asia and Mongolia, as well as the technical makers and machinery of industrial felt. Her work engages the public through immersive installations, exhibitions, volunteer opportunities, community building, and educational presentations.
A 2023 Smithsonian Magazine feature called Arnold “an innovative creator…felting dramatic pieces that bring American fiber arts to unexplored heights.”
Arnold has exhibited nationally and internationally including at the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Bellevue Arts Museum, Grand Rapids Art Museum, Azerbaijan Carpet Museum, A. Kasteyev State Museum of Arts in Kazakhstan, State Museum of Kyrgyzstan, LA and NY Metropolitan Operas, and Cirque du Soleil. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, and public and private collections world wide.
This installation is co-sponsored by the International Projects Office in the International Division. Additional support for this installation comes from the Anonymous Fund. An opening reception celebrating this installation and exhibition is forthcoming. To learn more about the exhibit and upcoming related programs, visit cdmc.wisc.edu or sign up to receive the latest gallery news and events by email.
For more information, contact Laura Sims Peck, laura.peck@wisc.edu, 608-262-1162