Yuli Somme
portrait photographs by Fern Leigh Albert
Yuli Somme | Textiles - Felt | Devon
Making mundane things such as tuffets, tea cosies and hot water bottle covers objects of beauty, functionality and integrity is what Yuli celebrates and finds joy in.
Carefully choosing wool from the right sheep, the right farm and the right environmental management is part of her craft practice, and that brings the connection with Nature that inspires her.
Over the last 20 years Yuli has been making shrouds for natural burial, taking her reference from the 17th Century law of burial in wool. She has designed options for burial or cremation that are softer on the eye and bring comfort at a time most needed in our lives.
“There is an intrinsic tenderness in the fibre; it is beautiful. Over the years, my work has shifted towards bringing this tenderness to others at a time of grief and as an ecological alternative to a hard-edged, anonymous box.”
Although this was an unexpected evolution in her work, it has connected her to an industry that many people find baffling and mysterious. Her insights bring her clients the reassurance that thinking 'outside the box' is not only possible, but essential as an antidote to this over-standardised world.