The Garden of Delights, an exhibition by Marjolein Dallinga
The Napoleon-Bourassa Exhibition Centre in Montebello presents The Garden of Earthly Delights, an exhibition by Marjolein Dallinga from November 22, 2025 to February 15, 2026This body of work in felted wool, which includes several new creations, extends and transforms a reflection begun 10 years ago, when the artist was creating a monumental series inspired by the famous painting. The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch, exhibited at the Museo del Tessuto in Prato, Italy.
Ten years later, Marjolein Dallinga revisits the themes of Bosch's masterpiece—life, death, desire, and the fragility of the body—adopting a more intimate and introspective approach. Her textile sculptures, sometimes organic, sometimes fantastical, evoke skins, marine creatures, enchanted forests, or even fragments of mutating organisms.
For over 25 years, wool has been the artist's preferred medium and a true space for inner dialogue:
" Felting is not just something I do, it's a place I want to go, a language of the imagination. […] Does this art, these felted works, become a way of living, a way of surviving? » – Marjolein Dallinga
Through a slow process of creation, deconstruction, and reconstruction, Dallinga seeks to achieve a form of balance between the
vulnerability and resilience. Each piece bears witness to a personal journey where the material, almost alive, becomes a second skin.
with The Garden of Earthly DelightsShe closes a circle, reinterpreting the same themes while choosing a more refined and introspective gestural style. The exhibition invites the public to enter a sensory and symbolic universe, where felted wool becomes a material of memory, transformation, and emotion.
FREE ENTRANCE
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Opening reception with the artist present: Saturday, November 22nd, from 2 pm to 4 pm
The artist will speak at 2:30 PM.
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Napoleon-Bourassa Exhibition Centre: 548 Notre-Dame Street, Montebello
The artist
Marjolein Dallinga was born in the Netherlands, where she studied visual arts.
She moved to Montreal in 1989 to pursue her artistic career in the creation of art books and jewelry. While raising her family, her creativity led her to make toys and teach art. It was through this that she discovered felting, which is now her preferred medium.
Cirque du Soleil took an interest in her work, and for many years she experimented with felt for costumes and created final pieces for the famous circus's shows.
Marjolein founded her own company, Bloomfelt, and works from her workshop, equipped with sewing and dyeing rooms, in the municipality of Gore Township. She has been teaching the art of felting for 20 years in North and South America, Europe, and Australia. In recent years, she has won three awards for her costumes created for WOW (World of Wearable Art) in New Zealand.
Today, her work focuses more on sculptural pieces and wall art. She has participated in numerous exhibitions, both nationally and internationally.
https://www.bloomfelt.com/en/?lang=en
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