Robert Mertens

Lives and works in Shenandoah Valley, VA

Artist statement

Artist Statement – R. Mertens “Anthropologies of the Body often view the human form as a sort of text, onto which meanings and experiences are inscribed during people’s lives, rendering the body effectively as an artefact of material culture.” — Martin J. Smith, A. Starkie, R. Slater & H. Manley My practice as a fiber artist is rooted in materiality and process. I work at the intersection of handcraft, acousmatic sound, and the rituals of loss, creating hybrid sculptures and installations that serve as meditations on fragmentation, spirituality, repetition, and impermanence. These themes emerge through an ongoing inquiry into broken narratives, quotidian gestures, textile structures, and patterns of entropy. Influenced by the language and methodologies of anthropology, particularly reflexive, context-driven archaeological approaches, I explore the body as both archive and artifact. My series Archaeology of the Body examines the human form as a site of excavation, drawing from concepts like midden, relic, and ancient text(ile). Each work is constructed from raw wool and ungalvanized steel, materials that are crocheted, woven, and wet felted. The wool contracts through felting, and the embedded steel rusts, dyeing the fibers naturally while accelerating decay. These transformations, visceral and inevitable, are part of the work’s core meaning. Before my engagement with fiber arts, I trained in sound art. That ephemeral foundation continues to echo in my practice, where...

Artwork

• Entropic Cloth, 2024. Quintuple Cloth, Floor loom woven, Felted, wool, steel wool, rust, speaker wire, speakers, 13 minute loop of a sound score derived from bodily sounds.
• Textiliform #7, 2026. Floor Loom Woven, felting, wool, steel wire, scavenged subwoofer
• Textiliform #6, 2026. Floor Loom Woven, Sextuple Cloth, felting, steel wool, wool, rust, scavenged speakers
• Textiliform #3, 2023. Floor Loom Woven, Sextuple Cloth, felting, steel wool, wool, rust, scavenged speakers
• Textiliform #2, 2023. Floor Loom Woven, Sextuple Cloth, felting, steel wool, wool, rust, scavenged speakers
• Textiliform #1, 2021. Floor Loom Woven, felting, steel wool, wool, cotton string, rust
• Embracing Entropy, 2024. Fiber/Sound/Performance Art Quintuple Cloth, Crochet, Felted, Wool, steel wool, rust, speaker wire, speakers, 13 Minute Audio/Performance. Original sound score composed of recorded bodily sounds. Video loop.
• Ruinenlust Westcove Hospital, 2025. Video/Performance, Wet Felting, Needle Felting, wool, rust, steel wool, speaker wire, conductive wool, audio sampler, interactive electronic instrument,
• Crackle Quilt, 2024. Wet Felting, Needle Felting, wool, rust, steel wool, speaker wire, conductive wool, interactive electronic instrument.
• Karst #1, 2024. Wet Felting, Needle Felting, wool, rust, steel wool, speaker wire, conductive wool, audio sampler, interactive electronic instrument, sounds include sampled traditional Gaelic instruments. Requires basic audio installation
• Half-membered Marks Series: Drift in Amity, 2025. Wool, Steel Wool, Steel Wire, rust dying, wet felt casting, dry felting, vertical mattress suture stitches
• Half-membered Marks Series: If Hearts of Shadows Break, 2025. Wool, Steel Wool, Steel Wire, rust dying, wet felt casting, dry felting, vertical mattress suture stitches
• Half-membered Marks Series: In the Abyss of the Sky, 2025. Wool, Steel Wool, Steel Wire, rust dying, wet felt casting, dry felting, vertical mattress suture stitches
• Half-membered Marks Series: Hovering between a Thorn-tree and a Stone, 2025. Wool, Steel Wool, Steel Wire, rust dying, wet felt casting, dry felting, vertical mattress suture stitches