Simone Pheulpin: Fossile Textile

Born in Nancy in 1941, Simone Pheulpin is a self-taught artist living between the Vosges Mountains and Paris. For the past thirty years, Simone has drawn inspiration from the Vosges natural landscapes to create unique sculptures in the shape of rocks and fossils, using tightly folded strips of cotton held together by thousands of invisible pins.  Her pieces have been widely exhibited and collected by museums across Europe, Japan, and America. Simone Pheulpin hand folds coarse strips of cotton from the Vosges region, which she gathers seamlessly using invisible pins. Cotton is an essential material in the Vosges, where it is widely used in the textile industry and in the manufacturing of tires for its strength and its ability to take form. Simone relies on these qualities to shape her sculptures; however, the harshness of the raw material rapidly numbs her hands and only allows her to work two hours a day.