Spell Blanket - Tex Design

Based on a personal collection of objects, household appliances and discreet tools from the textile industry, she composes images in which the ordinary is charged with strangeness and illusion. These fragments unfold into all-over patterns whose repetition narrates everyday situations, littered with clues. The pieces combine textures, reliefs and colours reminiscent of the layered history of velvet and brocade in early Dutch painting.

The work consists of 5 pieces.

1. Linen Sheet, 240 × 260 cm
   Linen damask
   Collaboration with Deltracon

   A symbol of luxury and social status in the 17th and 18th centuries, linen damask is here woven from unbleached linen. Its natural sheen reveals the patterns only under certain angles of light, giving them an almost mysterious presence. The repeated medallion, seemingly floral, in fact reproduces the diagram of a magnetic dipole, a physical representation of an electric current. Within the grid, other shapes emerge disruptively, drawn from the domestic sphere: water, electricity, energy. The piece evokes the transformation of flax, a water-intensive plant, and turns the suspended sheet into a ghost of textile heritage, between agricultural memory and industrial history.

2. Fan Rug, 140 × 200 cm
   Cut and loop pile velvet in wool and viscose
   Collaboration with Van Neder

   Halfway between a screen and a rug, the piece plays on contrasts of material and symbol. The textile’s thickness evokes the weight of antique furniture, reinforced by the drawing of hinges between the vertical bands, as if to support the fabric’s mass. In counterpoint, the fan motif introduces a sense of movement and lightness, poetically evoking thermal comfort warmth and ventilation intertwined.

3. Velvet Scissors, fabric roll 5 × 1.40 m
   Jacquard velvet, 100% polyester
   Collaboration with Louis de Poortere Frères

   The motif combines two domestic objects, sewing scissors and the key to my apartment, evoking gestures of protection and threshold. In certain European cultures, open scissors placed under a pillow were believed to ward off evil spirits. Hung like a garment, the draped green velvet also recalls the feminine figure from Van Eyck’s painting The Arnolfini Portrait.

4. Wool Boots, 220 × 220 cm
   Jacquard blanket, 70% wool, 30% polyamide, reversible
   Collaboration with B&T Textilia

   A pair of boots, drawn as a lost and found object, suggests a feminine presence. In the background, a landscape of cobblestones transforms into apples, a symbolic motif inherited from the Middle Ages. The apple, both nourishing and ambivalent, connects this piece to the agricultural world and to everyday life. It embodies an accessible value, reactivating a sensitive relationship between textile gesture, material, and earth.

5. Iron Hands, 125 × 170 cm
   100% polypropylene, outdoor fabric, padded foam, bolted screws
   Collaboration with Tessutica

   A repeated manhole motif covers the woven surface, linking the visible and invisible layers of the urban ground. The drawing originates from my own collection of found and discarded objects, including plastic protective gloves, transformed into textile imprints. The hands evoke both gesture and care, bridging the artisan’s working tool and the industrial protection device, between raw material and the attention given to its use.

Spell Blanket is a result of Tex Design, an initiative of Fedustria and Designregio Kortrijk that brings together Belgian textile companies and young creative talents. The project aims to stimulate the textile sector to think more creatively, innovatively and internationally. By collaborating on experimental installations and innovative applications, companies discover new market opportunities and strengthen their image as a future-oriented manufacturing industry. The results are showcased at events such as the WONDER Creativity Festival and international design weeks, where Belgian craftsmanship and textile innovation are in the spotlight. This creates an inspiring platform that bridges the gap between industry, design and education, and positions the Belgian textile sector as a pioneer in sustainable and creative collaboration.

Spell Blanket was realised with the support of Aarova and POM West Flanders, in collaboration with the textile companies Tessutica, Deltracon, De Poortere Frères, B&T Textilia and Van Neder.