Rousseau. First test of painted silicone with punched hair. 2023
I have always described my view of stop-motion animation as a kind of bridge between painting and film. I think it might actually be my grown-up way of keeping alive the child within me.
As a child my way of playing was strangely cinematic, unlike how other children I saw played. Cinematic in the sense that I manipulated my toys in front of my eyes in a fixed position, and imagined the world around them passing by. Voices and sound effects were also far more related to what I was absorbing from the screen than how the occasional playtime with a friend would play out. I think I was more interested in the realism of the voices coming out of my mouth and being altered by my imagination than what they were saying. There was a sense of narrative, but everything was slowed down. I loved being alone, within my own world.
When I went to college I think I expected I would study painting. I would have loved to do film, but I felt too shy and insecure, and also the film course where I was studying was nowhere near what I might have hoped for from a film course. I realised that the same went for painting. My father (an artist, who has always abhorred animation), some years earlier had given me a VHS of the animated films by the Brothers Quay. He had bought it during a trip to New York because he thought the cover image was beautiful. It was those short films that revealed possibilities in animation I had never considered. And it was one afternoon, visiting the animation department, sitting with a camera connected to an old Amiga computer and a piece of plasticine that I became enchanted by the magic that is animation.
So I guess animation was quite literally my bridge between painting and film.
I have not animated anything since graduating from that course in 2005, but I have never stopped working towards a new animated film. Work and other aspects of life have repeatedly torn me away from my projects over the years, but my resolve has never been broken. On weekends, in far off countries working as part of the costume department on huge scale film productions, I have found comfort in letting my mind go back to imagining the miniature scenes I would eventually return to, or trying to find new solutions to the challenges of creating satisfactory puppets and sets.
The Unattended Lessons was to be my follow-up to Solo Duets. It has been a continuous process of sculpting characters, re-sculpting them, learning how to make moulds, re-learning, and trying to quench an unwavering ambition to create something deeply compelling.
Over the years the figures and the script have matured and changed with me, and the project’s present title is Woman with Cat.
Years ago I started posting my process on a blog, and sometimes make posts on instagram.
Creating realism in finger joints. 3D printed in stainless steel, 3D modelling by Simone Trippetta. 2024
Costume design and fabrication by Liz Krause. 2017
In the process of making a matrix mould using Rencast FC 54 and Platsil Gel.
First silicone test casts. These were used as mannequins for the costume designer. 2016
Isolde's head was reworked before making a 3rd full-figure mould. 2016
1930s costume being made by Liz Krause. 2016
Various solutions for eyelids were explored. This head was cast in plaster in two parts to enable access to the eye sockets in order to be able to carve them out. 2013
The figures were sculpted and re-sculpted multiple times during the years. Here a cast from the original head mould was refitted to the body after failed attempts at re-sculpting it. 2015
A sketch for the film within the film: The Knight and the Bottle. Digital drawing incorporating the pencil portraits by Alan Feltus, made for this project. 2023
PAINTING & SCULPTURE
Woman with Cat, (unfinished) July 2020
oil on linen, 27 ½ x 34 inches (70x 86 cm)
Curley, gift to Mayes C. Rubeo, 2022
oil on paper, 11 ¾ x 17 inches (30 x 43 cm)
Irene (after an Egyptian mummy portrait), 2025
oil on paper, 8 ¼ x 11 ⅝ inches (21 x 29.5 cm)
Self-Portrait, 2014-2017
plaster, height approx 9 1/2 inches (24 cm)
DESIGN
Design and layout for Alan Feltus' memoir Motherself: an Artist's Memoir, Vicarious Pictures Inc, 2024
Sculpture for cover design of Siri Hustvedt's novel The Blazing World. Cover design by Ben Summers, Hodder & Stoughton Publisher, 2013
Design collaboration with Tobias Feltus for EP The Lonely Blues, by Lipsync for a Lullaby. Limited edition hand printed, 2010
Photography & design collaboration with Tobias Feltus for the album Growing Flowers by Candlelight, by Ainslie Henderson, Amphibian Husbandry, 2006
PHOTOGRAPHY / VIDEO
Instances (Diptych 4.25-6.20), 2005
FeltusFeltus, two 35mm frames
In about 2005 my brother (Tobias) and I started composing analogue photographic images together under the name FeltusFeltus, and exhibited our work between 2006 and 2010, in London, Glasgow, Milan, and the United States.
AWARDS:
• Best Foreign Artists, Arte Laguna Competition, Padiglione Paradiso, Giardini della Biennale, Venice, 2008
• First Prize, European Arteam Prize, Italy, 2006
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2010 Personal Interiors (with Alan Feltus & Lani Irwin), SoFA Gallery, Indiana University Bloomington, IN
2010 Personal Interiors (with Alan Feltus & Lani Irwin), Space 301, University of South Alabama Mobile, AL
2010 FeltusFeltus - Solo Exhibition, Kramer House, Baltimore, U.S.A.
2009 Two Gentlemen - Solo Exhibition, The Arches, Glasgow, UK
2009 'Domestic Zirkus' - FeltusFeltus (with Elizabeth Krause and Caroline Bliemel), Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, UK
2009 'Domestic Zirkus' - FeltusFeltus (with Elizabeth Krause and Caroline Bliemel), Whitecross Gallery, London, UK
2009 Double solo show 'Un Orizzonte Interno, FeltusFeltus - Walter Borghetti', Galleria Entroterra, Milano, Italy
2008 'Barocco Americano' FELTUSFELTUS, IRWIN, FELTUS, Sala della Ninfa - Cinema Teatro Comunale Esperia, Bastia Umbra, Italy
2006 'Untitled' - Feltus Feltus, Galleria EntroTerra - Milan, Italy
2006 'Untitled' - Feltus Feltus, Arte.Novaglio - Brescia, Italy
GROUP SHOWS:
2011 UNCANNY: Surreal Photography, curated by Russell Joslin, PhotoPlace Gallery, (VT) USA
exhibition catalogue available from Blurb
2009 'Abroad', Galleria Entroterra, Milano, Italy
2008 Arte Laguna, 30 finalist artists - photographic selection, Padiglione Paradiso, Giardini della Biennale, Venezia, Italy
2006 CAP-I-CUA, Galeria MiTO, Barcelona, Spain
2006 Lineart, Belgium.
2006 56^ Rassegna Internazionale d'Arte G.B. SALVI, Italy.
2006 ICONARTS: European Arteam Prize, Modern Art Museum, Albissola Marina (SV), Italy (FeltusFeltus win first prize).
2005 Art(Verona, Verona
VIDEO: Behind the scenes footage of a 2010 FeltusFeltus photography shoot for Atzi of Lipsync for a Lullaby
VIDEO ART: HZ-Kino (trailer)
FeltusFeltus, 2009
The Players, 2007
with Liz & Caroline
Two Gentlemen 1.4, 2008
FeltusFeltus, Kodak 64T
FILM
AWARDS:
• First Prize, Premio Oscar Signorini XXVII Edizione for Traditional Animated Short Film, Milano, Italy
(Jury: Roberto Della Torre, Laura Fiori, Julia Gromskaya, Simone Massi, Cristina Trivellin)
(14 December, 2010)
• BEST SHORT FILM (Prix du meilleur court-métrage), Fesival du Cinéma Italien, Espace Pierre Cardin, Paris, France
(Jury: Jeanne Moreau (president), Jean-Hugues Anglade, Frédérique Bel, Josée Dayan, Vincent Paul-Boncour)
(17 april 2007)
• SILVER DRAGON for Best Animated Film, Krakow Film Festival, Poland
The Jury awarded the film for its well-crafted sense of mystery, its emotional impact and its individual style.
(Jury: Jerzy Stuhr (chairman), Pirjo Honkasalo, Marek Hovorka, Phil Mulloy and Luce Vigo)
(04-06-06)
• Jim Poole Award for Best Scottish Short Film, UK
(04-06-06)
• Special Jury Prize, AniFest, Czech Republic
for “a sophisticated puppet animation and camera work. We particularly appreciate the courage you have because you continue making puppet films.”
(Jury: Oxana Tcherkassova, Daniel Suljic, Jiri Tyller)
(09-0506)
FILM FESTIVALS:
(Officially Selected in Competition, unless otherwise stated as non-competition):
• Court-Bouillon Festival de Court-Métrages de la Grange, (non-competition 17-18 June, 2011)
• Oscar Signorini Award for Traditional Animated Short Film, Milano, Italy (14-20 Dec., 2010)
{Winner First Prize}
• VII Festival Internazionale del Cinema d’Arte – Premio Le Mura d’Oro 2008”, Città Alta Bergamo, Italia ( 18-26 July 2008)
('Solo Duets' was chosen as the image to represent the festival)
• 6th Interantional Short Film Festival IN THE PALACE, Balchik, Bulgaria (June 2008)
• Cortoons -Festival Internazionale di Cortometraggi di Animazione, Roma, Italy (27-30 march 2008)
• 4th International Animation and Short Film Festival & Workshop, Ekaterinburg, Russia (December 1-4, 2007)
(invited as special guest together with Asaf Agranat and Professor Donald Holwill)
• International Film Festival Etiuda&Anima, Krakow, Poland (15-22 November 2007)
• 27th Amiens International Film Festival, Amiens, France, (non-competition Nov 9-18 2007)
• Cinemagic World Screen Festival For Young People, Belfast, Northern Ireland, (16 Nov - 2 Dec 2007)
• Silhouette Short Film Festival, Parc des Buttes Chaumont, Paris, France
(non-competition 2nd - 9th September 2007)
• aniMOTION animation festival, Sibiu, Romania (3-8 July 2007)
• Umbria Film Festival, Montone (PG), Italy (non-competitive 6 July 2007)
• 15th International Animation Festival of Brazil, Anima Mundi 2007, (non-competition. Rio de Janeiro, June 29th to July 8th, and in São Paulo, July 11th to 15th 2007)
• Maremetraggio International Short Film Festival, Trieste, Italy (June 29 - July 7, 2007)
• trickfilmplattform screening, ASIFA AUSTRIA studio, Dapontegasse 9, Vienna (28 june 2007, non-competitive)
• Open Roads: New Italian Cinema, Lincoln Center, New York, U.S.A. (the leading showcase of Italian cinema in the United States. non-competitive. 6-14 June 2007)
• Fesival du Cinéma Italien, Espace Pierre Cardin, Paris, France
(Jury: Jeanne Moreau, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Frédérique Bel, Josée Dayan, Vincent Paul-Boncour)
(12-17 april 2007)
{Winner: Prix du Meilleur Court-métrage (Best Short Film)}
• La Settimana Corta, Nuovi Sentieri, (in collaborazione con il Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani), Italy (mar 27 - 1 April 2007 non-competitive)
• Special Screening at the Tehran International Animation Festival, Iran (25th Feb - 1st Mar, 2007 non-competitive)
• 'Solo Duets' - selected among the 15 finalists for the Nastri d'Argento (Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani, Italian film critics' award). Screening and Award Ceremony 18.12.06, Sala Trevi in Vicolo del Puttarello 25, Rome
• International Animation Film Festival Animateka, Kinodvor Ljubljana, Slovenia (12-26 Dec. 2006 non-competition)
• AniFest (Anilogue), Budapest, Hungary (30 Nov. - 2 Dec. 2006)
• I Castelli Animati, Genzano di Roma, Italy (29 Nov. - 3 Dec. 2006)
• Student Film Festival Sleepwalkers, Tallinn Dark Nights Film Festival, Estonia (24-30 November 2006)
• Special screening at the Leeds International Film Festival, UK (11 November, 2006, non-competition)
• OPENING THE FESTIVAL - PISAF 2006, Puchon, Korea (2 November, 2006, honorary screening, non-competition)
"Solo Duets", the third opening film, lets you to encounter the devastated mind of an author by taking you to ruins in Europe that was destroyed in the world war in early 20th century. Having been consummated with an inspiration from "Duino Elegies" by Rainer Maria Rilke, this work conveys the destitute loneliness of a survivor with images of sullen color tints, appearing to be surrounded by a silent but pitch-black darkness, together with music by Erik Satie.
Demonstrates their presence of a kind that is entirely different from characters created on the computer, the figures in this film show a refined performance of a story that a soulless object gains life but again goes back to a death-like silence. These figures redefine performances that can be performed in a puppet animation film. This film invites us to a magic world that can be depicted by an animation film that is created with figures that have a mediating eye expression and paralyzed gestures that suppress pains inside.
(from the PISAF Catalogue, p. 43)
• Holland Animation Film Festival, Utrecht, The Netherlands (1-5 November, 2006, non-competition)
• 36th Kyiv IFF Molodist, Ukraine (October 21-29, 2006, non-competition)
• Norwich International Animation Festival (Aurora), UK (18 - 21 October 2006)
(What a Wonderful Festival!!)
• 3rd China International Animation and Digital Arts Festival (CICDAF 2006), China (Sept 28- Oct 1)
• 5th International Best of Short Films Festivals, La Ciotat, France (September 7th-10th 2006)
• Hiroshima International Animation Festival, Hiroshima, Japan (August 27th '06)
• Krok International Animation Festival, on board of the
river cruiser "Georgy Zhukov" following the route Nizhni Novgorod - Perm -Kazan - Nizhni Novgorod, Russia-Ukraine (8-17 Aug. '06)
• 46th Krakow Film Festival, Krakow, Poland
(June 4th, '06)
{Winner Silver Dragon for Best Animated Film}
• International Festival of Animated Films (AniFest) 2006, Trebon, Czech Republic
(7-8 May '06)
{Winner Special Jury Prize}
• Bradford Animation Festival, Bradford, UK
(16-17-18 Nov. '05)
• 59th Edinburgh International Film Festival, Edinburgh, UK
(26 Aug. '05)
ART EXHIBITIONS:
• Solo Duets screening as part Will Anderson's 'The Making of Longbird: a Retrospective' exhibition, in collaboration with Tobias Feltus and Sophie Gackowski, at the Inverness Museum, Scotland (Nov 2011 - Feb 2012)
READ review
• Ten Decades, Edinburgh College of Art Centenary Exhibition, The City Art Centre, Edinburgh (27 October 2007 to 20 January 2008, admission free)
review: link
• 2007 Mostra 'Il Demone Meridiano', Galleria Passo Blu, Torino
(16 mar - ..)
• 2007 CORTINQUIETI Rassegna di Cortometraggi d’Animazione Inquieta, a cura di Andrea Princivalli, Palazzo Foscolo, Oderzo (Tv), (09 marzo al 29 aprile 2007)
• 2006 Joseph Feltus - Exhibiting Photography and Film, Masters Degree Show, Edinburgh College of Art, UK
( 7-12 December 2006)
• 2006 FeltusFeltus 'Untitled' Solo Exhibition, Galleria Entroterra, Milano, Italy
(07 March- August 2006)
• 2006 Feltus Feltus 'Untitled' Solo Exhibition, Galleria Novaglio Arte, Brescia, Italy.
(14.01.2006 - 13.02.2006)
• 2005 Art(Verona, Verona, Italy
(13-16 Oct '05)
•
FILM SHOWS:
• Civitella Ranieri Foundation, Umbertide, Italy
• trickfilmplattform, ASIFA AUSTRIA studio, Dapontegasse 9, Vienna (28 june 2007, non-competitive)
• Special screening at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, CO, (6 June 2007)
• 'Solo Duets' - shortlisted for the Jim Poole Scottish Short Film Award 2006, Edinburgh, UK
(4 June, '06)
{Winner First Prize, Best Scottish Short Film}
• Blue Room, short film screening, Edinburgh, UK
(05/09/05)
• Edinburgh Filmhouse, eca degree animation film show, UK
(30/06/05)
SOLO DUETS
a FeltusFeltus & Feltibus production, 2005
Edinburgh College of Art
written, directed, animated by Joseph Feltus
produced by Tobias Feltus
08'53 mins
FILM FESTIVALS:
(in competition, unless otherwise stated)
• Special screening at the Leeds International Film Festival, UK (11 November, 2006, non-competition)
• PISAF 2006, Puchon, Korea (2-6 November, 2006)
• Krok International Animation Festival, (on board of the river cruiser "Georgy Zhukov" following the route Nizhni Novgorod - Perm -Kazan - Nizhni Novgorod), Russia-Ukraine (8-17 Aug. '06)
• London International Animation Festival (LIAF), London, UK (22-27 Aug. '06)
• Australian International Animation Festival (AIAF), Sydney and Adelaide, Australia (after MIAF, '06)
• Melbourne International Animation Festival (MIAF), Melbourne, Australia (20-25 June '06)
• 14a Edizione di ARCIPELAGO , Festival Internazionale di Cortometraggi e Nuove Immagini, Roma, Italy (16-22 June '06)
• onedotzero_10, London, UK (June 10 '06)
• International Festival of Animated Films (AniFest) 2006, Trebon, Czech Republic (5-7-8 May '06)
• Sehsüchte ("viewing addictions") - the biggest student film festival in Europe, Potsdam-Babelsberg, Germany (April 26th '06)
ART EXHIBITIONS:
•CORTINQUIETI Rassegna di Cortometraggi d’Animazione Inquieta, a cura di Andrea Princivalli, Palazzo Foscolo, Oderzo (Tv), (09 marzo al 29 aprile 2007)
• 2006 Feltus Feltus 'Untitled' Solo Exhibition, Galleria Novaglio Arte, Brescia, Italy.
(14.01.2006 - 13.02.2006)
HAPHAZARD SYMPHONY
a Feltibus production, 2004
directed by Joseph Feltus
music composed by David Dela Haye
02'45 mins
Copyright © Joseph Feltus 2025