Rumi Dalle escapes categorization. She is a collector, a designer, a performer, a researcher, and an artist; her works attest to the skills of craftsmanship and gender’s role in the history of craft itself and a long fascination with material, most importantly fabric, its fluidity, and malleability.
An integral part of Dalle’s work is the relationship nurtured with producers of craft, an approach that has led her. It continues to take her to different countries to learn first-hand about disappearing crafts from those still practising them. Her travels introduce her to new beliefs, religions, and cultures, which each work absorbs. Dyes and colourings are an integral part of her research, composition, and the merging of elements and shapes is how she shares her thought and tells her story.
Dalle’s spiritualism influences the work she produces. History, myths, and tales are the primary sources of inspiration. The dichotomy between the artist’s spiritualism and sensualism is where lies the depth and meaning. She asks herself whether body and mind are in sync, story, and object aligned.
Dalle’s work has inspired several international brands to establish a distinctive presence over the years, such as with the first artwork she created for Hermes in 2013 that birthed an impressive portfolio of works, winning her the prestigious Boghossian Foundation Prize as artist of the year in 2016. Among her latest experiments with felt is a body of work combining sculpture and performance – “It Felt Like A Dream” and “To Be Continued” – launched in 2021 and 2022 at Nomad St. Moritz.
Today, Dalle continues to revisit materials in new ways while embarking on research trips to discover more folk crafts and customs to integrate into her practice. As many of these traditional crafts are on the verge of dying out, Dalle’s path of curiosity is one of preservation. An archivist of sorts, she draws attention to distant traditions in an attempt to transfer her knowledge to new cultures and generations. While one cannot but see how this journey of discovery and transition truly becomes a reflection of her own, Dalle keeps a single mindset: to revive memories, awaken curiosities, and resuscitate senses.