Dutch-Indonesian artist Gladys Paulus (b. 1973) creates deeply emotive works that quietly reclaim a perceived loss of sacredness. Often stemming from personal explorations into her ancestry, identity, and meditation practice, her oeuvre straddles the worlds of fine arts, traditional crafts and ritual, managing to find a space entirely of its own and pushing the boundaries of the medium of felt in doing so.
A fourth generation artist and maker, Paulus currently lives and works in Somerset. She is a specialist visiting tutor across the UK, Europe, USA and Canada, an exhibiting member of the 62 Group of textile artists and she is on the Crafts Councils Selected Index of Makers. Her work is represented in the collection of the Tropenmuseum (Amsterdam), and private collections in the USA.
Photo reportage & interview by Together&Sunspell October 2017
Felt is a unique, non-woven textile made from wool fibres. The art of felt making predates woven cloth and is thought to date back to Neolithic time. Felt making is an ancient and alchemical process during which wool fibres shrink and come together to form a dense mat when subjected to heat, humidity, friction and a change of alkalinity. The felt can be shaped and sculpted into 3-dimensional forms as it shrinks.
Paulus qualified as an active member of the Gallery Climate Coalition in 2022 & 2023, pledging to at least halve her carbon emissions from her arts & teaching practice by 2030, from a 2019 baseline.
TALKS
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Artists in conversation event to accompany Ritual Touch exhibition. In conversation with artists Dr. Ingrid Pollard MBE and Monica-Shanta, facilitated by exhibition curators Lorna Rose and Ella. S. Mills. Plymouth Arts Cinema, Plymouth, 02.03.2023
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Artist talk to accompany Hinterland exhibition. Black Swan Arts, Frome, 27.09.2017
EDUCATION
1990-93:
Hogeschool voor de Kunsten (College of Fine Arts), Utrecht, the Netherlands
EXHIBITIONS
Solo
2020:
Hinterland, Greenhill Arts, Moretonhampstead, UK
2017:
Hinterland, Black Swan Arts, Frome, UK
EXHIBITONS
Group
2024:
Spinning a Yarn, group exhibition & installation. With Nicola Turner, Trevor Pitt, Liz Clay, Penny Wheeler, Jane Ogden, Kate Lynch, Gill Hewitt, Linda Row and Pauline Rook. Somerset Rural Life Museum & Mapstone gallery, Glastonbury. (Part of the Somerset Art Weeks Festival, organised by Somerset Art Works supported by Arts Council England).
2023:
Ritual Touch, group show with Monica-Shanta and Dr. Ingrid Pollard MBE, MIRROR gallery, Plymouth, England. Curated by talking on corners (Lorna Rose and Ella S. Mills).
2022-29:
Our Colonial Inheritance, Worldmuseum Amsterdam (formerly known as Tropenmuseum), The Netherlands
2018:
The Selkie: Weaving & the Wild Feminine, Onca Gallery, Brighton, England
2016-17:
Zoomorphic, Llantarnam Grange Arts Centre, Torfaen, Wales
2016:
A Darn Good Yarn, Greenhill Arts, Moretonhampstead, England
2014-17:
Black Sheep – the darker side of felt, national touring exhibition by the National Centre for Craft & Design (UK). Venues across the UK, incl. London, Dublin, Harrogate, Wolverhampton.
2015:
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Etsy Four Corners of Craft, London Design Week, London.
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Shape Shifting & Story Walking, Rook Lane Arts, Frome, England
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Makers, RedEarth Gallery, Tiverton, England