My current exhibition at the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, MA features a collection of botanical sculptures hanging in the gallery entrances. In this post, I share photos, videos, and commentary about my new “Felt Filigree” work. The show, To Every Season: Works by Salley Mavor, will be on view through Dec. 31, 2025.
Felt covered wire has been a mainstay in my pieces for several years, including in Birds of Beebe Woods, Cover Up and Whiskers.
This is the first time I’ve created works that are entirely made with covered wire. For me, they are a way of drawing lines in space, without the interference of a background.
Where did the idea come from?
When visiting the museum last year to choose which areas to display my work, a cluster of four small galleries drew me in. Having visitors experience my art in intimate spaces where they could spend time peering into my little worlds was a priority. But, the floor to ceiling doorways leading into the galleries seemed too imposing and hard-edged, especially for a nature themed show. My first inclination was to do something to soften the edges and create more welcoming entrances. In other words, embellish!
I ended up spending all winter and spring making a group of intersecting felt-covered wire forms to frame the upper portions of the doorways. When installed, they would look like valances and parting stage curtains that invite people inside. At this point, I didn’t know how to describe what I was making, let alone what to name this new concept.
During the process, I took a photo of my son Ian holding up one section, so I could see how they would look.
The process:
To prepare, I measured the doorways and made sketches on some ancient graph paper passed down from my grandparents. I then scanned the drawings and enlarged them using Block Poster.
I printed out the sheets and taped them together to make full sized patterns to use as guides. I formed leaves, branches and other linear shapes with 18 gauge insulated electrical wire. Working with wire was tough on my hands, so I took to wearing gloves.
I wrapped layers of yarn around the wire shapes to smooth out the bumps and add a little thickness. Watch the following video to see how I stitched strips of felt around the wire.
Manipulating the wire and getting it to lay flat was tricky at times. Pliable materials like thread and yarn are much easier to handle, but what I envisioned required a strong structure that would hold its shape. No droopy, floppy, stringy fiber art for me!
I’d like to make more pieces like these and can imagine covering large expanses with felt filigree. My original thought was to create larger works that took less time, but I can’t seem to help myself from making little stitches. Still, the ratio of working hours to square footage is a big improvement.
Speaking of tiny stitches, the following video shows how I covered wire shapes with felt and embellished branches with seed stitches.
Even though these felt filigree sculptures are site specific, they can be reused in other ways in future exhibitions. For more versatility, I purposely made them in sections that can be arranged in different ways. Also, in addition to being suspended in open spaces, they could be mounted on light or dark colored walls.
The following video shows how I stitched strips of felt around the wire intersections.
I hope that you’ve enjoyed this peek at my process. The exhibition, To Every Season: Works by Salley Mavor will be on view at the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, MA through Dec. 31, 2025. I will be giving an Artist Talk on Sat., Nov. 1 at 10:30 AM. Please register here.
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SALLEY MAVOR 