Layers of Meaning

The Digital Quilt by Michael James

In the article Fiberarts Magazine > The Digital Quilt, Michael James describes the the technological changes to quiltmaking with the advent of digital tools, such as computer aided design and photo manipulation software, combined with the ability to print directly on the fabric with a photographic clarity.

James states that these new technologies open up "new frontier for quilt artists." Yet at the same time he reflects, "I've given a lot of thought to the implications that sophisticated technologies such as those embodied in this equipment and software hold relative to my practice as a quiltmaker. The capacity to place imagery on fabric is virtually unlimited. Almost anything that the imagination can conceive, combined with the facility offered by layering, transparency, tiling, color reduction, filtering, and other digital options, as well as photography and all that this medium brings to visual expression, is doable. This aforementioned facility doesn't come easily, but once the basics of the CAD programs are mastered, experimentation will open endless avenues for creative exploration. The danger is that this work can easily become facile, leading to vapid or predictable photo montages with little meaning or emotional resonance. This is a problem not unique to digital quilts, of course. It's a concern in any medium and with any materials or processes."

The article, from the Nov./Dec. 2003 issue of Fiberarts, is well illustrated with examples of contemporary printed textiles by James, Patricia Mink, Vincent Gil Vargas Quevedo and Caryl Bryer Fallert.