The Sublime Felt of Latifa Medjdoub

(how brilliant is that: flipping the image like that!?!)

I had the extraordinary experience of meeting Latifa at the American Craft Council Show in Baltimore last year (which might be going on or just finishing up as I write this).  A bit overwhelmed by the whole experience, it was hard to process the sheer volume of amazing artisans there though I had the good fortune to see some of her work up close and even to touch!  Her work is remarkable in its sculptural use of form and irreverent use of other mediums.  I still marvel at the sliver of silver puff paint she put on the collar of one of her felt garments and what an exciting element it added to the piece: a simple gesture like an afterthought that looked so perfectly in place, elevating the whole piece to another realm.

As I was tripping through the net tonight, I came across her website.  It is a theater in and of itself, that weave its own mystique.  You can visit it here.  

(now I feel so inspired to keep soldiering on….be sure to visit Latifa’s blog too!)

Here are a few examples of her deft and daring use of felted wool:

 

From Latifa’s Artful Home profile:

“I feel that textiles offer both a diversity of technical approaches and a wide range of artistic, emotional, and stylistic possibilities, and these elements together provide nearly limitless avenues for self-expression. The result is that every textile that passes through my atelier exists as an artistic response to the social, political, and environmental issues that move me.”

Latifa Medjdoub’s one-of-a-kind and limited edition wearable pieces combine knitting, weaving, dying, and felting. Educated as a textile designer in Roubaix, France, and experienced as a designer of costumes for both the Operas of Europe and Parisian haute couture, Medjdoub has both a strong technical grounding and refined artistic sensibility. Her use of unique sculptural forms and unexpected shapes reflects the dimensions and tensions inherent in the human relationship with the natural world. Latifa Medjdoub creates wearable textiles that are stunningly original, sculpturally surprising, and beautifully made.

From the West Bay Opera Site:

Latifa Medjdoub is the costume designer for La bohème. Ms. Medjdoub studied at the Superior School of Applied Art of Roubaix, France, where she earned both a BA and a MFA degree in textile design. During this period, Ms. Medjdoub presented her first public exhibition in 1994 at Roubaix’s Museum of Art and Textiles. Ms. Medjdoub’s first experience with costume design came in 1996, when she collaborated with Philippe Guillotel, the costume designer for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Albertville Olympic Games, on a series of projects. Over the next several years she collaborated with many of Europe’s leading costume designers, including Christian Lacroix, Yvonne Sassinot de Nesle, and Gabriella Pescucci. Among Ms. Medjdoub’s many theater and opera productions during this period were the Symphonie fantastique and Les Indes galantes, both for Paris Opera Garnier, film projects such as Raul Ruiz’s Le Temps Retrouvé in 1999 and Christophe Ganz’s Brotherhood of the Wolf in 2000 as well as a variety of other productions, including the 6,000 costumes created for Switzerland’s Fête des Vignerons (Vevey 1999).