Yoomoo | Mr X Stitch

Japanese artist Yoomoo caught my eye some time ago. The combination of needle felt and fabric in each piece strikes a perfect balance. Although I tend to prefer animals like the charming goat gentleman pictured below, the human sculptures are equally wonderful. I particularly like the portrait of Frida Kahlo (also below) They are doll-like, but definitely not playthings. The sculptures have a mystique about them that keeps me coming back again and again. Where it really gets interesting for me though, are these cat sculptures. They appear to have sprung to life from the paintings of another Japanese artist, Higuchi Yuko. Or perhaps the paintings came after, it’s hard to say. Either way, it is difficult to believe that they were not created by the same hand. Like the works above, there is an intentional quality about each of the materials - even where they differ slightly from the paintings, the works complement each other in an undeniable way. I would love to see these pieces hung beside each other in a gallery setting. Finally, I will leave you with just a couple more irresistible images: You can find more needle felt artwork by Yoomoo here: http://yoomoo.blog5.fc2.com/ and more illustrations and paintings by Higuchi Yuko here: http://higuchiyuko.tumblr.com/. As always, thanks for reading! Would you like to be featured in this column? Discover a needle felt artist who you think I should profile? Please feel free to contact me! I would love to hear from you. ----- Zoë Williams creates needle felt sculptures based on spirits, sacred creatures, and dreams. Her work is concerned with the intersection of the (inner) realm of the collective unconscious and the (outer) kingdom of nature. She lives and works in New York City.