Shaped by a deeply personal sense of place and unwavering commitment to sustainability, Food Shelter Clothing was born through weaving together the ethos of beauty, utility, and sustainability.
Centered around the centuries-old technique of felt making, textile artist Kristina Foley honors this ancient artform by celebrating the natural qualities of wool, infusing each piece with the essence of the animal without compromising on ethics.
Utilizing the ancient technique of felt making, textile artist Kristina Foley creates animal-friendly works that infuse nature, warmth, and wild opulence into everyday life.
Kristina’s connection to the land, expressed through natural fibers and botanical color, is deeply rooted in the vast, unbridled beauty of the Pacific Northwest.
Materials sourced from small farms, with a special focus on the Pacific Northwest.
Hand-felted with olive oil soap.
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. While residing in Tuscany she developed a
studio practice tailored to felt making and botanical color that reflected t
local materials available: European wool varieties, dye plants and vintage
textiles. Opting for a slow lifestyle, Kristina lived in a fourteenth-century stone
farmhouse and followed the seasonal rhythms of agriculture, food and
community. The artisan culture of Florence, along with her professional work
for knitwear designer Boboutic, have deeply influenced her craft. In 201
Kristina returned to the USA and created Food Shelter Clothing: capsule
collections intertwining beauty, utility and sustainability. Kristina’s felted pieces
highlight the incredible wool available from small farms in the PNW and
multi-generation fiber mills across the country.
“Felted wool invites the attention of all our senses and transports us into the
natural world at the root of its making. When we engage with the felt we realize
that it is at once wild, like nature, and also cultured, owing to the centuries of
tradition informing its production.” –Kristina Foley
By building relationships with
small, regional farms and mills to source wool, she is part of a broader
movement that begins with land stewardship and connects to a domestic supply
chain prioritizing regenerative farming practices, animal welfare and the safety
of farm workers while collaborating with designers, artists and educators.
The transparency of her artistic process emphasizes the authenticity of the
materials she uses.
Kristina shares a commitment to animal friendly design and chooses certifie
climate-beneficial wool for its renewable, biodegradable and enduring qualitie
Her technique allows the raw beauty of the fiber to emerge and transfo
through felt making, resulting in works of art that invite a respectful, reciprocal
connection with the beauty, utility and spirit of the animal.