The Team
Karl sawing wood for bird stands
Claudia getting ready to make jewelry
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I am Claudia, owner of Patagonian Hands. I am from Coyhaique, Patagonia Chile. I have been living in Missoula, Montana, USA with my husband Karl since July 2012. I used to be a school teacher in Chile and I have become a self-taught fiber artist and jewelry artisan since I moved to the northern hemisphere. I create animals, mostly birds, using only sheep wool that I get in Hall, MT and some my family in Chile. I don't use any glues or stitches to keep sculptures together, but the compression I get through barbed needles that push the fibers every time I poke the wool. This process is known as needle felting. I also love creating silver jewelry, my inspiration is nature. I design, hand saw, solder, file and polish each piece. Karl needle felts the sculptures, small and large, he starts the poking process, creating the entire shape of each bird, and then I finish each piece, adding the details to give them that realistic look. Karl is also the wooden stands master. He does landscaping and tree removal, owing his own business, Karl the Beaver. Whenever he finds interesting looking wood, he saves it and lets it cure for around three years. When time has passed, Karl cuts each stand, he rubs them with linseed oil and beeswax or leaves it natural, depending on the wood. |
Claudia working on a Steller's Jay
Karl making Polar bear ornaments
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Artist's Statement
Picture taken near Puyuhuapi. Getting closer to my hometown Coyhaique, Patagonia, Chile.
My work is fairly straightforward. I love to transform humble materials like metal, wood, and wool into dazzling works of art that reflect the beauty of the natural world. For instance, the wool I use for my sculptures is sourced locally from sheep ranchers, millers, and merchants. I do not use glues or stitches to fasten my models, maybe a bit of copper wire wrapped in wool to make my figurines pliable. It makes me smile when I can use an everyday material that may have been discarded or underutilized to make something elegant, useful, and sustainable.
In begin the process of making a fiber sculpture by studying the complex anatomy of each bird, insect, or mammal. I take to the field, pour over guide books, listen to the creatures’ sounds, and browse academic papers so I might understand them better. When I have slowed down time so that I know my subject, I shape the raw wool into form through a long series of pokes with a barbed needle until compression and friction have interlocked the protein stands into a unified shape. Then I add the colored wool to simulate plumage of a bird, the smooth exoskeleton of an insect, or the woolen beard of a mountain goat. I always strive to make a representation that is true to form and to the essential nature of my subject.
I am from the Chilean Patagonia and I reside in Montana. My artistic vision has been molded by the earth’s physical, elemental, and natural forces as well as my cultural heritage. Just as my grandmother paid tribute to the earth and her tribe by shearing sheep, hand washing wool in the river, carding, coloring it with natural dyes derived from plants, spinning, and weaving sumptuous tapestries bearing symbols of the natural world which reflect my Mapuche or indigenous South American ancestry—I too, strive for purity of process, awareness, beauty and sustainability in my artwork.
In begin the process of making a fiber sculpture by studying the complex anatomy of each bird, insect, or mammal. I take to the field, pour over guide books, listen to the creatures’ sounds, and browse academic papers so I might understand them better. When I have slowed down time so that I know my subject, I shape the raw wool into form through a long series of pokes with a barbed needle until compression and friction have interlocked the protein stands into a unified shape. Then I add the colored wool to simulate plumage of a bird, the smooth exoskeleton of an insect, or the woolen beard of a mountain goat. I always strive to make a representation that is true to form and to the essential nature of my subject.
I am from the Chilean Patagonia and I reside in Montana. My artistic vision has been molded by the earth’s physical, elemental, and natural forces as well as my cultural heritage. Just as my grandmother paid tribute to the earth and her tribe by shearing sheep, hand washing wool in the river, carding, coloring it with natural dyes derived from plants, spinning, and weaving sumptuous tapestries bearing symbols of the natural world which reflect my Mapuche or indigenous South American ancestry—I too, strive for purity of process, awareness, beauty and sustainability in my artwork.