Gladys Paulus

Following the death of her father in 2015, Frome-based textile artist Gladys Paulus presents HINTERLAND; an installation of ancestral healing costumes dealing with identity, belonging, gender relations and grief. 

Gladys Paulus is a UK-based artist, working predominantly in the medium of hand-made felt textiles.

Echoed by the alchemy of the felt making process, her work explores patterns of change and transformation. Felt making is a long, physical and intimate process, during which wool fibres, water and soap are combined to transform into a fabric which can be shrunk into tactile forms. As the wool shrinks and dries, the shape is stored in the fibers.

This idea of the wool ‘remembering’ provides the means to mark and process important events in her life and links her to an ancient textile tradition which played a vital role in the history of humankind. Despite the characteristic strength of felt there is an implied fragility to the sculpted form. Gladys is interested in this tension, and how far she can push the boundaries of the medium.

A member of the Crafts Council Directory, International Feltmakers Association and Somerset Art Works.