Lucky are those that own a piece of sculpture by Frédérique Morrel. Her one of kind tapestry covered animals, skulls, and furniture pieces and are highly sought after. I discovered her work in the latest issue of Hi Fructose magazine, where you can read about Morrel and her enchanting fanciful beasts.
Morrel and her husband creatively take fiberglass taxidermy
molds which are later injected with expanding foam, to covering the form. She begins each work with fiberglass molds injected with expanding foam and then reinforces them with steel rods. Then the vintage tapestries are applied by hand to the form.
They then cover these forms with vintage tapestries and embroideries she collects. They use tapestries to convey a narrative through the use of tradition, erotic and kitschy pieces they find in flea markets and antique shows. Morrel also uses real antlers, teeth, feathers and fur. She makes a point to reiterate she uses all found materials; no animals are hurt for these creations.
Morrel sees the art of tapestry and embroidery as a link
to the past, each piece tells a story. Her interest in this needlework began as
a child when she helped her grandmother create a large-scale tapestry of a boar
in homage to her grandfather. She has created her own image of the boar and one
of her large scale pieces in the series Visitors. She likens
tapestries to something to be cherished and remembered and she takes
an old fashioned craft and makes it
into something contemporary.
Read more about her work on this blog, If It's Hip, It's Here
Take a look at Hi-Fructose in the Arts Division to read more about Morrel.
