ABOUT

Anna van Dorsten is a textile artist from Amsterdam, creating soft sculptures and wall hangings, using various types of wool, silk, yarn and thread. In her work she explores the human need for warmth, security and connection, much like the womb as the original sphere; a symbol for a shared space of co-existence. With its softness, resilience and tactility wool enables her to express human vulnerability and strength in a world that needs qualities of compassion and care. Egg like shapes are a repeating phenomena, signifying growth and renewal, life and shelter.

She is drawn to working with wool, feeling it and showing the fragile beauty of the woolfibers when felting. Felt, a non-woven textile, emerges from compressing wool, moistened with olive soap and water. Chance plays a significant role in the final form and structure of her works, which arise from both design and the random interlocking of wool fibers. The result of this process can be seen as a co-creation of artist and felted wool. Her works are deliberately unfinished and frameless, capturing imperfection and a sense of becoming.

Guiding processes of transformation in her previous career as a psychologist, inspired her to express the continuous cycle of growth and renewal in her art. Organic forms in nature are at the heart of the designs for her works.

Exhibitions:

Maison Bailly Paris 2025 Group show

Maison Bailly Verbier 2026 Group show

GLUE Amsterdam 2021/2022/2025 Solo show

Kleine Gallery and Schinkeldistrict Amsterdam 2024 Solo show

BIGART 2023/2024 Group show

(re)Discoveries 2024/2025 Group show

Groot Handelsgebouw Rotterdam 2025 Solo show