If you’ve never heard of one bare branchget ready to meet your new favorite animal. These tiny, soft-bodied creatures are technically sea slugs, but don’t let the name fool you—they’re some of the sleekest, neon “molluscs” in the ocean. There are about 3,000 species out there, and artist Arina Borevich of Wool Creature Lab he is on a mission to recreate each of them from wool.
Arina’s journey began a decade ago in the most “centric” way possible: she was working as a cook at a remote biological research station on the White Sea in Russia. Surrounded by 200 scientists on a tiny island, she fell in love with these “incredibly colorful” creatures that look like they belong on another planet.
What started out as a creative way to pass the time – feeling a few specimens as gifts for biologists – quickly turned into the Wool Creature Lab. Now, divers and marine scientists from all over the world turn to her to assign specific felted nudibranchs, sometimes even the very species they discovered themselves!
So far, Arina Borevich has faced over 40 different guys, but with thousands to go, she’s got her work cut out for her. Each sculpture takes between six and 12 hours of meticulous pushing and shoving to get those vibrant textures right. It is a slow movement of love that brings the hidden beauty of the deep sea into our hands. Honestly, who knew sea slugs could this be caressing?
