Material Matters with Grant Gibson

Claudy Jongstra on working with wool and creating her own biodynamic farm.


Listen Later

Claudy Jongstra is a Dutch artist and designer who has become globally renowned for her, often monumental, textile installations and tapestries made from wool. 

After establishing her studio in Friesland in the Dutch countryside during 2001, she started an ecological venture, which involved maintaining a herd of indigenous sheep and creating a biodynamic farm near her studio to grow plants used for natural dyes – effectively combining her art with ecological stewardship. 

Her work is in the permanent collections of a number of museums such the Museum of Modern Art and the Cooper-Hewitt in New York and the V&A in London. And she has won a slew of awards, including the 2022 Interior Design Hall of Fame Award. 

Not only that, she designed costumes for the Star Wars movies.

In this episode she discusses: the ‘intelligence’ of wool; leaving her job and taking two years to understand the material; setting up her own farm; the organic nature of her career path; being an activist; the process behind her extraordinary pieces; the special qualities of the Drenthe Heath sheep; why we burn so much wool; the secrets of Burgundian Black; making really big pieces; her love of cooking; issues with the vintage clothing industry; working with her son; oh and creating costumes for the Jedi…

Support the show

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Material Matters with Grant GibsonBy Delizia Media

  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8

4.8

45 ratings


More shows like Material Matters with Grant Gibson

View all
More or Less: Behind the Stats by BBC Radio 4

More or Less: Behind the Stats

898 Listeners

Monocle on Design by Monocle

Monocle on Design

73 Listeners

The LRB Podcast by The London Review of Books

The LRB Podcast

292 Listeners

About Buildings + Cities by Luke Jones & George Gingell Discuss Architecture, History and Culture

About Buildings + Cities

270 Listeners

The Week in Art by The Art Newspaper

The Week in Art

208 Listeners

Talk Art by Russell Tovey and Robert Diament

Talk Art

482 Listeners

Time Sensitive by The Slowdown

Time Sensitive

154 Listeners

The Great Women Artists by Katy Hessel

The Great Women Artists

531 Listeners

The Art Angle by Artnet News

The Art Angle

354 Listeners

Homing In by Matt Gibberd and The Modern House

Homing In

86 Listeners

The Long Thread Podcast by Long Thread Media

The Long Thread Podcast

208 Listeners

A brush with... by The Art Newspaper

A brush with...

141 Listeners

Haptic & Hue by Jo Andrews

Haptic & Hue

299 Listeners

A Life More Wild by Canopy & Stars

A Life More Wild

22 Listeners

This Cultural Life by BBC Radio 4

This Cultural Life

111 Listeners