Felt Artist PJ Bergin Welcomes Artists in Residence to Felt In Hand Studio

Colorado Art Ranch is back in town again. In partnership with Salida ArtWorks, 7 Artists in Residence are living and working in Salida, CO through the end of May. While here, they will complete site-specific art installations, make presentations to the community and participate in an Artposium, entitled "Wade in the Water", to be held May 21-23 at the Salida SteamPlant.

(Left to right, C. Maxx Stevens, PJ and Hyeon Jung Kim)

I invited the two over for a workshop in making felt. Both describe themselves as sculptural installation artists and are keenly interested in the environment where their work is shown. "Maxx" is an Assistant Professor of Art at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She says she "deals with the whole space, incorporating elements of lighting, sounds and even temperature into her installations." Hyeon, from Bolingbrook, IL focuses on material and process and believes in the value of repetitive actions in her pieces.

After a few hours both artists had some colorful test pieces constructed and through the felting process. Hyeon incorporated some printed paper dry cleaning tags into her piece, while Maxx concentrated on brilliant colors with an eye towards some surface design in the future. Both artists had some prior experience working with felt, but were amazed at the lengths that I have taken the art form to.

It was a great way to welcome some talented artists to our community. I look forward to spending time with our resident artists this month and seeing what they are working on in their group studio. Stay tuned for more!


PJ Bergin Contemporary Mixed Media Fiber Artist