"Narrative Needle Felting" is a free workshop open to the public as a part of the show "Connective Fibers" , a new body of work from local fiber artist Mallory Zondag. The workshop will be an introduction to a central idea and a technique used in creating the large scale fiber sculptures on display at Arthurs Market, using fiber sculpture to tell stories.

You will learn how to needle felt basic 3D forms and how to think about your own personal narratives in a visual way. Using symbols both abstract and realistic, you will be guided through the process of communicating your own ideas and experiences through small scale fiber sculpture. Needle felting can be both meditative and therapeutic, an artform that both creates and allows time to process personal experiences

"Connective Fibers" is a collection of large scale fiber sculptures that were born out of the physical processing of the artist's personal emotional histories that began during the pandemic and are still continuously being resolved. The sculptures are primarily created through wet felting, a full body textile technique that involves both the meticulous layout of wool fibers and subsequently slamming the fibers against hard surfaces to develop the fabrics structure and the sculptures form. It is a technique that requires presence and care as well as physical release and strength, these are tools needed for both felting and the healing of emotional wounds. The creation of these sculptures was an act of both. Fiber art throughout history, has always been about more then function, it is about storytelling. How we move through the world rests fundamentally on the stories we tell ourselves, about ourselves, our actions and our relationships. Storytelling is healing, storytelling though physical art making can be transformative. Mallory's work weaves together visual narratives of the visceral body and the natural world, using organic forms as mirrors of personal experiences to both process and share her stories.

This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by The Arts Center of the Capital Region.