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Soft sculptures of the human anatomy crafted out of old bed sheets by Karine Jollet

In her ongoing body of work, Soft Sculptures, French artist Karine Jollet starts with old bed sheets and shirts, embroidered handkerchieves and second-hand fabrics that she cuts up into fragments and then sews together by hand. She reconstructs different body parts – arms, legs, hands, feet – along with several organs and bone structures.

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Karine Jollet's white fabric foot sculpture made from sewn together pieces of old bed sheets and textiles, with an embroidered sole and ribbon detail at the ankle

Speaking of her work, Karine said: "The body as an enigma, I explore it, step by step, like a space that I need to reconstruct, to unify. Fabrics are materials that came naturally to me as an analogy to our own biological tissues: bones, fibres, crystals… Observing anatomy fills me with wonder and respect. In my eyes, there is nothing morbid in anatomy; I can only see beauty and the wonderful complexity of forms and of vital functions.

"I cannot stop wondering, I ask myself, time after time, 'why this hand, this foot, this heart?' Of what the body itself is a reflection?'. Following this line of thought I find that anatomy possesses also a hidden dimension that connects us to an invisible, ideal order of things and also to a secret, dreamlike reality. To represent both, I use the preciosity of pearls and crystals, of lace and flowers, of animals and chimeras."

Karine's sculptures are always white to connect all of her sculptures and also "remind us of an invisible universe, far away from our own world, a dimension of unity and purity". Discover more of her beautifully sensitive work on Tumblr.

Via Design Crush

White fabric sculpture of a reclining human figure with elaborate feathered wings, crafted from sewn bed sheets and embellished textiles by Karine Jollet
A white fabric sculptural head with closed eyes and serene expression, wrapped in delicate gauze or linen strips by artist Karine Jollet
White fabric head with sewn features and beaded tentacle-like hair strands, by Karine Jollet
Close-up of a white fabric sculpture showing embroidered stitching details and textured layers creating a face-like form by Karine Jollet
Pair of white fabric sculptures of open hands and forearms stitched together from old textiles by Karine Jollet
White fabric sculpture of a human foot and lower leg segment, hand-sewn from old bed sheets by Karine Jollet
White fabric foot and leg sculpture by Karine Jollet, handstitched from old bed sheets with delicate embroidered details, suspended against a neutral background
White fabric sculpture of a human head and brain structure with decorative beading at the centre, crafted from sewn textiles by Karine Jollet
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