Vilt Kontakt

 

Dutch ViltKontakt magazine
Autumn 2014, Number 42
Cover & interview

World of Wearable Art 2014

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And the story behind it? I’ve heard about this competition a few years ago and was always curious to enter it. So in 2014 I decided to do it. I designed a beautiful garment of the East princess in my mind and bought some fresh water pearls for decorating it, just to finally realize that I misunderstood the conditions of the contest and had to send the pictures of the finished piece already, because I was a first year entrant, and I didn’t have another 2 months to do that, as I thought. So I had a choice – do I step back, because it was the last day to send the photos or I send just any photo of my finished pieces? I decided to send what I had – I chose the blue dress I made for ballerina and sent it. To my surprise it was accepted and I had to reproduce the dress to send it to New Zealand. Wish I could have seen my Princess of the East Wind performing on the stage, but New Zealand was just a little bit too far, but just a little bit Glad to be the finalist of the contest though.

Wedding stories

photography by Viktorija Vaisvilaite

 

 

photography by Svetlana Batura

 

Every love and wedding story is different in its own beautiful way. And I am happy to meet people who want their stories “written” in unique handmade natural ways with nuno felt dresses and jackets. It is always unique.

Another sense of fashion

nuno felt blouse: merino wool, silk, flax, bamboo. natural dyes: cochineal

Hand writings in blue

Handwritings in blue. Nuno felt piece from wool, silk, and flax. Natural dyes: indigo.

A piece participated in The International Nantong Craft Biennale 2014, in China.

4 full Moons

4 Full Moons - a skirt with the circumference of 4 circles.
nuno felt: silk, wool, fresh water pearls
natural dyes: weld, indigo, logwood

Rustic felt on the cover

Felt and natural dyeing by me on the cover of Lithuanian People magazine, worn by beautiful Lithuanian actress Egle Jackaite and her sons. Photography by Viktorija Vaisvilaite.

The idea of the photographer was to create rustic and cozy image of the family members. For this I chose delicate silk, cotton muslin, wool, spun silk embroidery and natural dyeing and improvised eco printing of the garments. I used madder, cochineal, alkanet, walnut and young alder collected from my yard.

Glimpse of the process

Red & snow

nuno felt dress: wool & silk. natural dyes: madder

Feedback

I have been reorganizing some photo albums today, and looking through past comments. I really love to receive feedback, especially the one that consists of more than one word. It gives you a sense of how others perceive your work and you can check if you do succeed in revealing the things that you want others to see. And I am very happy when I know I am... Just a few comments from some of you that I reread today and enjoyed as catching an essence of my work. Thank you!
Amalthee Créations: women's body as a landscape ...great work of ART !!
Kristel Krynberg: Fashion with character!
Suzanne Petzold Higgs: Vilte, your work leaves me breathless or in a constant state of looking for the words that describe the intrigue, feminine mystery and ethereal beauty of your work
Fabienne Dorsman-Rey: had to come back and look at it again... ethereal quality of the angel, between Heaven and Earth
LaLa! Monde: Beautiful. My first thought went to that wonderful feeling when you're slowly waking up, still balancing between a nice dream and awakeness

Fetishism in Fashion

Not so long after Svetlana Batura took photos of my felted kimonos on a man and I submitted these photos, I got a letter from Paris, to be more precise – from Edelkoort ETC, a company of a famous trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort.

 

The letter was an invitation:

“Please find enclosed a letter of invitation from Lidewij Edelkoort, the press letter, as well as images of the pieces we are most inspired by and feel are key to the expression of fetishism in contemporary fashion.  Would you please let me know if you would be interested in participating in this high-profile European fashion event, and if so, indicate if the attached pieces are available for consideration?” …

“Some of the designers who already accepted to contribute are: Walter van Beirendonck, Iris van Herpen, Rad hourani, Kei Kagami, Rick Owens, Bernhardt Wilhelm, Bas Kosters, Damir Doma, Joji Kojima, Aitor throup, Peter Movrin, Chris Sutton, Jean Paul Gaultier, Maison Martin Margiela, Yingin Ying, Prada, Uma Burke, Gabriella Marina Gonzalez, Luuk Varkevisser, KYE,  Barbara I Gongini and many more outside designers.”

“Please let me know if you need any additional information at all, while I look forward to hearing back from you soon regarding your interest.”

 

My work was selected for their exhibition “Fetishism in Fashion” at M°BA. Of course I said yes. Who wouldn’t want to be in a company of Iris van Herpen, Rick Owens, Jean Paul Gaultier???

The exhibition is now on view in Arnhem, the Netherlands. If you are there you can go and enjoy. But you will not find my work there. Unfortunately the last minutes changes were like this:

“We also have received lower budgets and less exhibition space than we first were told, and so we are sorry that this has a restricting effect on things too.
Please know that the Li Edelkoort is a big admirer of your work and that this decision is only based on the exhibition as a whole rather than individual pieces that she loves.”

Well, I can still feel happy that I have been chosen by Li Edelkoort among others like Jean Paul Gaultier and that she loves my work. Good intentions

Lifetime passion

"It's a lifestyle. It's a lifetime passion. An artist needs to be ambitious and passionate. You don't work nine to five. You breathe your art twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week." (E.Shafak)

collaboration of Vilte & Irit

Fiber Sculpture

 

Fiber manipulation/sculpture technique, developed by me. ©

Belle Armoire

I think I have forgotten to show this feature on the blog. Lovely memories of the Summer too – a feature in Belle Armoire, Summer 2012, volume 12 issue 2, feat. in pg. 18-23.

Many thanks for Svetlana Batura, who made all photography for this article.

Natural colors

There is something in colors that you get from plants that once your started playing with them, it’s turning you away from anything synthetic. You just can’t stop exploring the natural. I think I’ve said it before…

 

 

Animism. Design with the soul.

“The animal world will keep invading and transforming the life of humans represented in a more abstract and less narrative manner.
Fibre and plant are becoming dominant materials animated by organic form and skeleton structures”.

“Primitive matter and organic shapes will embody a need of man longing for a more meaningful and ritualistic relationship with earth and the elements.
Resulting in a revival of animism.
Therefore designers create brut and raw shapes that resemble totemic termite mounds, honeycomb shape, spider web laces and timber structures”.

“Can design have a soul and therefore be animated?”

I have mentioned Li Edelkoort some years ago in one of my posts here and now came across her words again when Irit shared it. There’s so much of the truth and purity in her words about trends (that we already see today!) which echo so well with my own inner feelings and believes.

And the whole trend report of her is so well worth reading:

“Post Fossil - excavating 21st century creation by Lee Edelkoort 2011
Time has come for extreme change
Society is ready to break away from last century for good.
To break with creative conventions, theoretic rules and stigmas that now are questioned, challenged and broken.
To break with a materialistic mentality replacing it with the crafted materialization of modest earth-bound and recomposed matter.
In the aftermath of the worst financial crisis in decades, a period of glamorous and streamlined design for design's sake come to an end.
A new generation of designers retrace their roots, refine their earth and research their history, sometimes going back to the beginning of time.
In this process, they form and formulate design around natural and sustainable materials, favoring timber, hide, pulp, fibre, earth and fire.
Like contemporary cavemen, they reinvent shelter, redesign tools and manmade machines, and conceptualize archaic rituals for a more modest, content and contained lifestyle.
Like a Fred Flintstone of the future.
The animal world will keep invading and transforming the life of humans represented in a more abstract and less narrative manner.
fibre and plant are becoming dominant materials animated by organic form and skeleton structures.
Our relationship with all living organisms is at stake. Therefore humans will share and care for each other.
Soon the world will discover that we are all family.
Ecology and sustainability will no longer be enough.
Primitive matter and organic shapes will embody a need of man longing for a more meaningful and ritualistic relationship with earth and the elements.
Resulting in a revival of animism.
Therefore designers create brut and raw shapes that resemble totemic termite mounds, honeycomb shape, spider web laces and timber structures; at times incorporating biotechnology into the making process to inspire design systems for the future.
Nature is a dominant ingredient in this movement, although no longer used in a naive and aspiring ecological language, but as a mature philosophy fit for newer age. Raising the questions that need to be raised.
Can we do with less to become more?
Can design have a soul and therefore be animated?
Can man find a more meaningful way to consume?
Can we break with the past and reinvent the future?
In general, materials will be matte and humble, however the earth and its hidden riches also invites this generation to employ minerals, alloys and crystals; adding lustre and sometimes even sheen to fossil-like concepts and constructions.
Laquered and polished surfaces are enhancing vegabond finds, unveiling their raw beauty while questioning the survival of the world's economy.
At times these designs will echo the essence of the arte povera movement which is bound to make a revival – soon”

Lidewij Edelkoort

EXPLORING NUNO FELT and ECO PRINT with Vilte Kazlauskaite & Irit Dulman

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! and more details coming your way! But...if you are interested in exploring nuno felt textures and natural eco print with me and Irit Dulman in the island of Aphrodite - Cyprus (can you believe it??? :) reserve the dates this July!

Course I
Beyond the surface. Fabric manipulation in nuno felt dresses + Eco print.
July 17-20

Course II
Wild fibers. Fiber manipulation and raw fleeces in nuno felt accessories + Eco print.
July 21-23

 

 

INFO: viltess@gmail.com

 

P.S.

Based on inquiries we get, I have outlined main differences between 2 courses to make it easier for you to choose or just take both:

Beyond the surface - focuses on creating textures using fabric manipulation. We will also go deep into how to construct a garment, different wool lay out techniques, shrinkage, constructing of the pattern. Irit will teach eco printing and dyeing, and she will focus more on dyeing fabrics and nuno felt.
Second workshop - Wild fibers - focuses on creating textures using raw fleeces + fiber manipulation, which is different than fabric manipulation in the first course. We will create our own fabric from raw fibers and will learn how to give it dimension and combine with all texture from fleece. I will show how to make very light felt with fleeces, but will also cover how to make it thick if preferred. We will not go deep into pattern making and construction in this workshop, it's just for an accessory but completely different materials and techniques than the first one. Irit will also teach eco print and dyeing, but here she will also focus on dyeing raw fleece and fibers (fabrics and felt as well).

 

You can read some information about these courses in Russian here

Or take a peek to a space the workshop will be held at here

Project: Repurpose

Almost two years ago one of my clients was so excited contacting me, and she had an idea… She wanted me to repurpose her wedding dress that was sitting in the box for years. I think her excitement simply infected me and I said yes to her, let’s try this.

So the dress made its way to me over Atlantic. When I opened the big box, I had ambiguous feelings – fear to take the dress apart, excitement to repurpose it and…worry when I saw it was all synthetic and not silk as my client thought of it.

I don’t usually use anything synthetic in my pieces or projects, I don’t feel connected with the synthetics. And especially having to combine it with the natural materials… The other problem was that most of the fabric of the dress was not suitable for felting at all.

As the excitement and enthusiasm of the first moments faded away, I understood I could do nothing unless I build a connection with this fabric. I needed it to speak to me. There were dozen of times when I took it to my hands and then put it away. I took it apart, carded some fabric into fibers, and removed the embellishments to be felted on something I still didn’t know what. I was lucky to have such a wonderful client who understood my creative process and was ready to wait even for a year or more.

Concentrating my thoughts on my client, opened up my mind. Though the fabric was synthetic, it was a part of my clients image some years ago – I was sure this dress was soaking in most positive feelings, love and adoration during those times when my client was marrying a man she loved. It wasn’t just a piece of polyester to her. This was the point where the fabric could speak to me and I could listen. My work began.

It wasn’t all about felting, just a few pieces, it was more of interpretation in textiles. I applied several techniques and thought a lot about colors. I was sure the colors should be softening the feeling of synthetics and should be something that would look worth of a woman whatever her age would be. As the woman who decided to repurpose her wedding dress wants to cherish the things made of it for years or maybe a lifetime.

 

And…the best reward for this “communication” with the dress was my clients reaction – she loved every single piece. And I hope she is going to cherish it for years.