Why Wool?
Some materials furnish a home, and some already inhabit something within us. Wool is one of them.
For a long time, I wondered why.
Why do almost all of us have the same instinct when we see a wool blanket?
Why do we want to touch it before we even know whether it is soft?
Why can certain materials soothe us without saying a single word?
I don't believe it is simply a question of texture.
I believe our bodies remember things that our minds have sometimes forgotten.
Warmth, safety, shelter, a mother's arms.
A blanket pulled up to our chin while a storm raged outside.
A home where we felt protected.
Perhaps wool does not awaken specific memories. Perhaps it simply awakens an emotion.
The feeling of having been loved.
The feeling of having been safe.
We spend a large part of our lives searching for that feeling.
We look for it in a relationship, in success, in a place, in the eyes of others.
Without always realizing that our body recognizes it long before our mind does.
That is probably why I never chose this material by chance.
I don't only look at it with my eyes. I listen to it.
Because before being a fibre, it is an emotion.
I don't choose wool for its beauty. I choose it for the warmth it leaves in the heart.
When I create a work of art, I rarely ask myself whether it will be beautiful. I ask myself whether it can become a refuge, a quiet place where someone can set down, even for a moment, the weight of their day.
« I don’t work with wool.
I work with what it awakens within us. »
We often talk about decoration, trends and colours, but we talk far less about how we feel when we come home.
And yet...
Isn't that what we are all looking for?
A place where we can finally stop playing a role.
A place where we can breathe without having to prove anything to anyone.
I believe our homes should offer us that, and I believe the works of art that inhabit them can contribute to it.
Perhaps not by changing our lives, but by reminding us, every day, that there is still a place where we can return to ourselves.
Deep down...
I don't simply work with wool. I work with what it awakens. And if this material holds such an important place in my life, it is not because it is beautiful. It is because it reminds me, every day, that we all need a refuge.
Thank you for taking the time to read these words.
« I don’t create artworks to fill a wall. I create them to accompany the people who live with them. »
We often talk about decoration, trends and colours, but we talk far less about how we feel when we come home.
And yet...
Isn't that what we are all looking for?
A place where we can finally stop playing a role.
A place where we can breathe without having to prove anything to anyone.
I believe our homes should offer us that, and I believe the works of art that inhabit them can contribute to it.
Perhaps not by changing our lives, but by reminding us, every day, that there is still a place where we can return to ourselves.
Deep down...
I don't simply work with wool. I work with what it awakens. And if this material holds such an important place in my life, it is not because it is beautiful. It is because it reminds me, every day, that we all need a refuge.
Thank you for taking the time to read these words.
See you soon in the Akou Journal.
“I don't choose wool for its beauty.
I choose it for the warmth it leaves in the heart.”
— Ryslein Sakouni
And you…
What makes you feel at home today?
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