About Me, Chloë Geffken

I am a multidisciplinary artist and sheep shearer living on unceded Wabanaki Territory, Midcoast Maine. I have been creating things my whole life. I have always been fascinated by textures and the landscape I was raised in. My primary mediums are wool-fiber and watercolor paints. Both allow me to explore how the natural world can be interpreted as useful beautiful objects that we bring with us in our day to day. 

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After graduating from college, I ended up working at a Shaker history museum where I worked as the barn manager. Among the many animals who called the barn home was a flock of heritage Merino sheep. Sheep and all activities associated with them have occupied much of my heart. Wool is an incredibly versatile material. I choose to primarily weave with wool yarn to create textiles meant for use. I also use carded fleeces to create wet felted objects for everyday life. The Shakers felt that if you needed to make an object for its use, you might as well make it beautiful. This is an ethos that informs much of my work with fiber.

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Weaving and wet felting and watercolors all play with light, layers, and texture. Some of my earliest memories include visiting the big studio where my mom made stained glass hangings. Being interested in the softer side of things, I am still fascinated by color and the way light moves. While fiber arts is an expression of how I want the material world to be, how I want it to feel and the values I want it to embody, watercolor painting is an expression of the world that lives in me. I love that the medium can behave in expected but unpredictable ways depending on where water pools and which paints I am using. Much like my work with sheep, despite all visioning and planning, sometimes you just can't know what to expect.