Have you wondered who creates Cirque du Soleil theatrical pieces? Some of the costumes are the creation of Marjolein Dallinga – a modern textile artist focused on the ancient art of felting. Inspired by forms from the natural world, she creates artworks with a “raw and emotional look.” As she confessed it is the magical aspect of felting which never ceases to surprise her.
A painting and sculpting with fibre, felting is a technique with many complexities which allows unlimited freedom demanding very limited mechanical intervention such as weaving in a loom.
“I don’t know exactly where ideas come from but they seem to come from deep down inside me perhaps below the stomach. Colour plays on my emotions and I am drawn to organic, irregular forms. I need to be alone to have ideas, to be inspired. The world is so distracting with all its techno wizardry. I need solitude, nature, and water,” said Marjolein Dallinga in an interview for worldofthreadsfestival.
“…I love dreaming and giving my thoughts free rein. Most of my designs result from all the experimentation I have done without any particular goal. But since the Cirque Du Soleil came into my life, my experiments are now shared with designers whose input I then adapt to practical purposes, a process of cooperation that I find hugely inspiring and joyful. I am as concerned with craftsmanship as with creating,” confessed the artist.
Take a look at some felt costumes by Marjolein Dallinga:
