Our Roots
A tradition of form, experimentation, and artistic intent
Felting Academy is shaped by a remarkable lineage of artists who expanded what felt could be. Their work forms part of our foundation — technically, artistically, and conceptually. Through their vision, felt became more than decoration: it became a language of structure, movement, and contemporary design.
In the early 2010s, a wave of innovation transformed feltmaking across the post-Soviet space, especially in Russia and Ukraine. What had often been seen as decorative craft began to evolve into a more expressive and sculptural discipline. Artists explored volume, negative space, construction, and form with new freedom, developing methods and visual languages that continue to influence contemporary feltmaking today.
Felting Academy grew out of that broader creative movement. We honor the artists who opened these new paths — and those whose quiet mastery still shapes the way we teach, make, and think.
Alexander Pilin (Russia)
A sculptural thinker with a disciplined eye, Alexander Pilin brought strength, silence, and structure to felt. He approached wool not as fabric, but as mass — something to be shaped with clarity, restraint, and architectural logic. His work reminds us that form can be powerful without excess, and that space within an object can be as expressive as its surface.
Alena Selezneva (Russia)
Alena Selezneva brought elegance, movement, and inner strength into felted garments. Her work is known for soft silhouettes with strong presence — pieces that breathe, flow, and hold their own character. She showed that felt can both follow the body and express its rhythm.
Inge Bauer (Germany)
With her background in textile design, Inge Bauer introduced a precise and conceptual sensibility to feltmaking. Her work explores contrast, rhythm, and repetition, often with a minimalist visual language and a deeply tactile presence. She demonstrated that felt can be reduced, rethought, and rebuilt with intention.
May Hvistendahl (Norway)
A bold and inventive experimenter, May Hvistendahl combined Nordic clarity with a spirit of artistic play. Through folds, slits, and tension, she pushed felt toward movement, transformation, and sculptural lightness. Her work opened new possibilities for wearability, structure, and surprise.
Anna Gunnarsdóttir (Iceland)
Known for her abstract forms and poetic use of negative space, Anna Gunnarsdóttir helped expand felt into sculptural and interior contexts. She is also admired for her thoughtful book templates, which brought clarity and modular thinking to the creation of complex felted forms. Her work reminds us that felt is not only tactile, but deeply structural and intelligent.
