Merino Wool, Wool, Dry and Wet Felting Method
Mariana Chkonia (b. 1969) is an artist who lives and works between Tbilisi and Nukriani. In her prac- tice, she revives ancient felting traditions that have existed for centuries in the Tusheti, Kakheti, Khevi and Javakheti regions of Georgia. Today, these techniques have all but fallen out of use, and so Chkonia combines archival research with her own interpretation of felting methods to create her monumental, sculptural textile works: “I wanted to do something that I could not imagine, and make it bigger than myself. I wanted something to happen in the process that would drive me crazy,” she has said of producing her pieces.