Linda Felt Village

Linda Santiman

Artist Statement for Iconic LA 2025

I started marinating on the idea of focusing on iconic structures of Los Angeles in the middle of 2024. My felt structures all started with the soothing Palm Springs architecture, and that opened up this whole felt art journey. I started discussing with friends my excitement about building sculptures that represent the home I have loved living in for the past twenty-five years.

Then, in January, our city caught on fire. As the world watched this catastrophe, some outsiders were talking about how only rich people who owned five houses were losing their homes, I just kept thinking, “They don’t get it.” They don’t understand the singular magic of this city. You don’t know unless you live here. I felt such fierce love, like a big lesbian momma bear protecting her cubs. Then, our city got attacked by Trump, by ICE, and I’ve been watching our beloved neighbors kidnapped and jailed. I have witnessed and been a part of advocating for our LA family of neighbors. I have witnessed how tough, brave and loving we are, and I just keep falling deeper in love with our city.

All this year I’ve been constructing sculptures that represent LA. The decision-making process of what to build was a combination of being inspired by some sort of personal connection to it, maybe inspired by its history, sometimes bringing back to life a structure that no longer exists, and can I capture its essence in felt? Can I take a naturally whimsical medium like felt and find its personality? Would it work as a softer, cuddlier and lighter felt version of itself?

As I was recreating the Black Cat bar pre- Stonewall protest signs, “Blue Fascism Must Go!”, “Peace in Silverlake!” and “Abolish Arbitrary Arrests”, I had tears in my eyes because the messages are way too appropriate for today. But I also was filled with joy when I finished the Black Cat bar sign with the grinning feline, and I’ve been excited to amplify the historic meaning of this iconic queer piece of history. I’m looking forward to hearing all the stories that people share about their connection to these LA icons.

Artist Statement for Modville 2023

My felt sculptures started with a longing for a sense of serenity during the Covid pandemic. In 2020 everyone was on lockdown, inside their homes, and full of anxiety and loneliness. I yearned for the relaxed, pastel-colored whimsey of design of the desert and those mid-century modern homes of Palm Springs. Using felt and embroidery has always been my favorite visual and tactile medium. I started designing and constructing little houses that reminded me of the miniature model holiday villages. After I figured out how to make one, I had to start on the next one, and the next, and figure out how to construct a palm tree, a cactus, a car, a mini camper, and got more inspired with each discovery. Each piece I designed was a puzzle to decode, and I loved the challenge of every attempt to represent real life in a gentle, felt, mini version of reality.

Felt is either soft and pliable, or stiff and strong enough to hold its structure. It’s lightweight and colorful. The act of cutting the felt, sewing shapes together with hundreds of tiny stiches feels meditative and energizing. These are not exact to scale architectural models. I do not use precision cutting tools or templates. The sculptures are more plush, rounded versions of a precise reality. Each cut and stitch is done by hand. When I finish sewing the last bit of thread and hold the felt sculpture in my hand, it feels light and comforting, and I can hardly wait to photograph it and share it.

As I started to construct more pieces, the number of houses filled a city block, and then filled a neighborhood and then expanded into a community. As a lesbian, a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and an activist, I seek out and am interested in the creation of queer intentional spaces. This village is, like many queer spaces, built from lowly, basic resources of little value, like plots of dirt and cement in the middle of the desert. But once it’s finished, it transforms and becomes a space to daydream about a life in a home, and imagined to be open to our chosen family. It is a tribute to artists who are architects that fall in love with design and make a home from simple building blocks.