Bio

I established Felt Nomad in 2016.

All started with learning academic drawing as a teen, stepping into the world of art. I was a prop-maker’s apprentice, worked in hand-drawn animation and stop-motion film productions. Obtained masters degrees in art history and philosophy of art.
For a decade I was a travelling mural painter and graphic designer in Europe and South-America. While I discovered the world I certainly ‘felt nomad’.
I live in Western Australia now. My home-sickness and love for puppet animation is what started me to experiment with felt. For its intriguing nature and sculptural possibilities I drifted towards fashion design and hat making, as well started to use felt for creating art.

Traditions

The long history of felt intrigues me. Felt-making is a revived traditional craft in Hungary, still exist as a continuous skill in many parts of Asia, utilized by many all over the world as a textile art today, as when Hungarians started to research this old technique, their international gatherings made the technique to spread globally. I also learnt and researched extensively the traditional skill of hat making, the last surviving trade of felt-making before industry taken it over.

Goals

Man-made materials are litter that suffocate us, natural materials are a part of this planet. For my decade of travels, I know how little we actually need, but those items become a part of us as trusted company. Now I create slow-fashion accessories and clothes, toys and interior design elements using natural, bio-degradable materials. The use of wool, silk and leather has vast cultural heritage as well.

To make our own personal items once was a common practice. We all should claim this power back from the fast fashion industry, at least on a small scale. One of my missions is to make this ability accessible to as many people as possible through workshops. The empowerment to make our own clothes and items that surround us is priceless. Because these things will become our meaningful lifetime company, but also the process of creating empowers us.

Restoring, repairing, recycling old or damaged fur hats is also my mission. These items have a story, a life of their own, their quality not only won’t fade for many decades, but made of precious fur that would be devastating to waste unnecessarily.

What is very interesting about hats, that they have a degree of personification. They are reflect our mental landscape. Traditionally hats showed our status and position in society. They still express who we are or how we feel. Hence while I create the hats, either I think of a certain bouquet of attributes, a particular person who had given humanity something by their existence and work, or I try to capture the features of the future owner of the hats.

Service

I take custom orders and bespoke designs made for the individual with its special magical existence and precise craftsmanship. My readily available works can be found at my shop.
I can be hired as a workshop facilitator.

For any enquiries send me an email to feltnomad@gmail.com.

Boróka Égerházi-Kis