ANIMAL LANDSCAPES by Kristina Foley

OPENING NIGHT Friday, August 29th from 5:00-7:30pm

Hemmings Gallery is pleased to present fiber artist Kristina Foley, whose large-scale felted works invite viewers into lush, tactile landscapes that shift between the familiar and the fantastical. Kristina Foley was introduced to felting wool while completing a BFA in Fiber Structure and Interlocking at Syracuse University (2005) and continued her practice in Italy after graduation.

Now using raw wool, combed Merino, and wild silks, Foley continues her deep exploration of feltmaking—an ancient, transformative craft. Her carefully chosen materials engage the senses and highlight the origins and slow processes that shape each piece.

For this exhibition, Foley combines wool from a flock of endangered Navajo-Churro sheep near her Western Oregon home with fine Merino from Shaniko Wool Company. This pairing opens a dialogue about the cultural legacy and sustainable future of wool in the American West, a conversation deeply connected to Sun Valley’s own centuries-long tradition of sheep ranching.

Navajo-Churro sheep—the first domesticated sheep brought to the Americas by Spanish conquistadors in the 1500s—became central to the Diné (Navajo) for both meat and fiber. In the mid-1800s, U.S. military campaigns destroyed many Diné farms and flocks during forced relocations. Some families, however, safeguarded their animals in remote canyons, ensuring the breed’s survival. Today, these resilient sheep stand as a living link to both Spanish and Diné heritage.

The Merino wool comes from Shaniko Wool Company, an Oregon-based leader in regenerative agriculture and fully traceable domestic wool production. SWC plays a key role in revitalizing rural economies, strengthening U.S. textile infrastructure, and promoting environmental stewardship—values that align closely with Foley’s practice.

In addition to wool, Foley incorporates rare wild silks—Muga, Tussar, and Eri—from rural India. Unlike domesticated mulberry silk, these fibers come from wild moths living in forests and jungles, feeding on diverse plants that create natural color variations unique to their environments. Rich in cultural and historical significance, they link Foley’s work to the global history of natural fibers. She further enhances these silks with botanical dyes grown and prepared in her own garden, producing luminous, richly textured surfaces.

Foley’s work is grounded in the Latin root of animal—anima, meaning soul or life force. For her, natural fibers are not just materials, but living connections to landscapes, economies, and cultural lineages. Whether wool from endangered sheep or silk from wild moths, each fiber carries the stories of the people and places it comes from. In Foley’s hands, these materials become expressions of interconnection—between body and land, past and present, tradition and transformation.