window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-GEQWY429QJ');

 

Entity interviews Claudy Jongstra to learn how she tranforms wool into artistic masterpieces.

When you think of art, gorgeous oil paintings and elegant sculptures may first come to mind. However, Claudy Jongstra is breaking the mold – literally – by using unlikely materials like wool, mohair and silk in her art. In the fashion industry, textiles were worth almost $2,560 trillion in 2010, and millions of tons of unused fabric are wasted each year in Chinese mills when dyed the wrong colors. Not only that, but the textile industry is also a well-known contributor to carbon dioxide pollution, high water usage and pollution, as well as other environmental issues.

What do all of these fashionably frightening statistics have to do with a Dutch designer? Not only does she make gorgeous art, but Jongstra also makes her art environmentally friendly.

ENTITY recently got the chance to speak with Claudy Jongstra to explore her artistic processes and goals. Here are five ways Claudy Jongstra is transforming the field of art and bettering the planet at the same time.

1 She quit her job to follow the artistic path she “felt” was right.

You may have dreamed of being a fashion designer as a little girl, imagining a life full of unique designs, celebrity meetings and elegant dresses. However, for Jongstra, this dream didn’t turn out as rewarding in reality. In the mid 1990s, Jongstra graduated from the Utrecht School of Arts with a degree in fashion. Soon after, she began working with a small clothing company. Jongstra told the New York Times: “I was very unhappy designing for a market that is so anonymous. It’s also stupid – 10 collections a year, and this waste of fabrics with every collection. I couldn’t.”

Jongstra didn’t abandon fashion altogether, though. According to her, she visited a textile exhibit featuring a Mongolian yurt around twenty years ago. At that moment, something “clicked” and she knew that she wanted to work with felt. So, she quit her job in fashion and started experimenting with making wool.

Considering the fact that Jongstra’s work has now been  featured worldwide in a variety of museums – including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and the Friesian Museum in Leeuwarden – she may be just the role model you’ve been looking for to prove that following your passion (not to mention your own code of ethics) can also lead you to success.

2 Slow and steady is Jongstra’s secret weapon.

You’ve heard the story before: tortoise races the hare, and ends up smoking its bunny tail by taking the slow and steady route. Jongstra’s success as an artist aligns somewhat with this fable in that, like the tortoise, she takes her time to use quality materials in her masterpieces.

In fact, Jongstra shared that her pieces usually take about half a year to complete – partially because she isn’t willing to sacrifice our planet for speedy art. The wool she uses for her felt is yearly shaved off her own flock of Drenth Heath sheep, one of the oldest European species. In fact, Jongstra says that, beyond using the wool to create gorgeous pieces of art, she uses her art to “preserve the [sheep’s] race and show its beautiful quality.”

Jongstra also keeps her own bees and cultivates a botanical garden where plants such as Weld, St. John’s Wort, and African marigold can grow. By tending to her own flock and cultivating her own garden, Jongstra not only protects the environment, but also helps with the preservation of these rare species of animals and plants. According to her, each artwork is about “the same mental processes – [it’s] all about awareness!”

3 She doesn’t see herself as a “female” artist.

Today, women make up 51 percent of visual artists – however, female artists still only earn 81 cents for every male artist’s dollar, and are only featured in three to five percent of the major permanent collections in the U.S. and Europe. The truth is, women have made progress in the arts, but they are still often qualified with or judged as “female artists.”

For Jongstra, gender doesn’t have any big impact on her identity as an artist. “I see myself as a worker, collaborating with other ‘souls’ in different fields like art, food and writing,” Jongstra explained to ENTITY. In terms of how being a woman contributes to her work, Jongstra says, “I see myself as an artist working with wool, as Joseph Beuys [does], working from the material. [My art is] not gender related.”

These quotes perhaps reveal a common theme of Jongstra’s work: everything – the speed in which the art is completed, her own identity as a woman, etc. – is less important than the wool itself.

4 Jongstra believes caring for the planet even through art is a human duty.

Regardless of where you live, how old you are or what interests you hold, you’ve probably heard discussions about the environment. (After all, it was pretty hard to avoid hearing the phrase “global warming” on every news channel after Trump announced his pick for the leader of the EPA).

For Jongstra, however, living sustainably isn’t just a political topic or a new trend – it’s a duty that every human should fulfill. When asked what inspired her to embrace sustainable art, Jongstra replied, “I think in the world today, it is your moral obligation to value our heritage and our future.” As part of her work, she also hosts workshops or works with students from all over the world. According to Jongstra, the students are often clever and fast, but they haven’t ever worked with the Earth by picking flowers or making their own applesauce from scratch. However, when they can observe the stages of Jongstra’s artwork, their need to take care of the planet often “clicks.”

In fact, textile designer Sagarika Sundaram blogged about her own experiences of attending a workshop – titled, “From Intuition to Impulse: Constant Meander of Perception, Selfpath, Transformation, Impulse” – hosted by Claudy. According to Sundaram, the lessons “focused less on technique and more on sensing the material,” and, by the end of the workshop, “I answered many questions about my relationship with felt, and I’ve now set some kind of direction going forward.”

It may sound strange to have a “relationship” with a material. However, that’s the beauty of Jongstra’s work: she lets you realize how connected we can be, not only with fabric, but also with the Earth that creates it.

5 Jongstra doesn’t want viewers to just look – she wants their perspectives to be expanded.

When it comes to Jongstra’s art, the materials aren’t the only surprising elements. Her art also often features varying subjects. For instance, “Honeysuckle Blue(s)” focuses on a garden; “Aarde” is a mural rich in different hues of earthy brown; and “Ancient Light” uses a woman whose pale skin makes a stunning contrast to her weaved blue hair. Yet, with all of her pieces, Jongstra has the same goal: to open her audience’s minds.

She says she wants people to “look to nature in another way…to [see] possibilities and perspective, not only economic benefits.” And she does just that. Through her work, people can realize that wool isn’t just an old-fashioned fabric. Instead, it can be transformed into masterpieces that celebrate parts of the Earth that are often sacrificed to modern consumption.

Jongstra’s textile art may not fit the typical “art” stereotype – but that’s part of what makes her work so thought-provoking. From Jongstra’s manual process to the awareness that comes with using old, natural materials, this revolutionary artist is helping propel art into more sustainable practices.

Because the only thing more awe-inspiring than a stunning piece of art is the knowledge that it was made with love for the planet as well.

Edited by Casey Cromwell
Send this to a friend