Originally born in Sweden, artist and designer Alfhild Külper is currently based in Amsterdam. She studied at Central Saint Martins University of the Arts London. Having spent the last 10 years as a fashion designer for Dutch Maison Viktor & Rolf, she has recently turned her practice from dressing the body towards dressing our living spaces.
She’s now creating emotionally loaded, soft shaped textile pieces.
“My road into textile art/design started a few years ago, with a sudden, but very strong longing. I realized after making the switch, that the intense desire for making something physically soft was connected to a more empathic and emotional environmental care.
The tactility felt like a counterpart to our digital lives. And the organic shapes, craftsmanship and design based on intuition aims to create soft, safe spaces in times of uncertainty.”
Using a mix of traditional tufting techniques with 3D embroidery, these landscapes and figures, crafted out of leftover material and natural sustainable fibers, are abstract memories of nature. The memories were made thinking of our new digital habitats, that we create as we change and demolish our original landscapes.
My designs are a glimpse of a lighter world. A positive reaction to and excitement for all what is to come.