SCAPE IV & SCAPE V
by Christine Jacobs
2023 Wool, felt, and steel
Raised on a sixth-generation Merino sheep farm in South Africa, Christine Jacobs creates sculptural works that explore the relationship between land, memory, and belonging. Working with hand-felted wool sourced from her family’s farm, she transforms a material deeply connected to her heritage into tactile forms that offer comfort, protection, and reflection.
For Jacobs, felting is both a meditative process and a metaphor for the entanglement of landscape and its inhabitants. Her soft, cradling sculptures evoke imagined geographies where the land becomes an active presence—guardian, nurturer, provider, and playmate. Rooted in personal and environmental histories, the works reflect cycles of loss, resilience, and renewal, inviting viewers into spaces of rest and contemplation.
“Where we inhabit, we are guests; our environment, the gracious host. In this space, nature invites us into her fold, offering a sanctuary where we may rest and find solace in the softness of the earth’s fine layers.”
— Christine Jacobs