The Textile Art – a Living Tradition, Creative Potential

Textile art is alive and looks back on an eventful history. Its craft methods serve as tools for exploring and understanding the inherent qualities of materials. Passing on this knowledge preserves a cultural heritage dating back thousands of years and makes it accessible to future generations.

 

The focus here is not on technical perfection, but on discovering the creative potential of these techniques—and adapting them to one’s own artistic and creative processes! Textile craft techniques are a treasure trove of collective knowledge. They foster a deep understanding of materials and how they are worked. These traditions can serve as a source of inspiration for developing an individual artistic signature—they do not replace the creative process but offer tried-and-true tools for new forms of expression.

Textile art and textile surface design build upon this collective knowledge. The tools required are often simple—and lie in our own hands.

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My research on the textile arts is not limited to theory and history; it also draws on the craft methods and practices of indigenous communities, where the making of felts, carpets, textiles, clothing and jewelry is still understood today as a meaningful, often ritualistic act. The continuous transmission of this knowledge is important. The workshops build on these perspectives.

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The focus is on elementary textile techniques such as hand sewing, the sewing machine as a creative tool, designing textile surfaces, felting, spinning with a hand spindle, twisting, braiding, and ribbon weaving, and their application as artistic processes.

 

The production of a string—the organization of short, fragile fibers into a durable structure—marks a fundamental cultural turning point. Textile work connects, holds, carries, and organizes. It is a practice that directly brings together thought, body, and material.

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Craft and art are not understood as separate domains, but as interwoven fields. The body is part of the tool, the material an active partner in the process. Every movement, every tension, every decision is inscribed in the textile result.

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Workshops and courses: textile and fibre techniques in the context of art

My workshops draw on my experiences from my studies at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and the Städelschule in Frankfurt, combined with the craftsmanship of men's tailoring – learned at the Maßschneiderei Schmidt in Wiemeringhausen.

 

My workshops provide a foundation in working with textile and fibre materials: from traditional craft techniques to creative and artistic applications to working with minimal resources.

The focus is not only on learning practical skills, but also on gaining a deeper understanding of textile craft traditions, their socioeconomic backgrounds – and their potential as a medium for free artistic design.

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