ABSTRACT STITCH
a solo art exhibition by Susan Hensel
At 621 Gallery
Railroad Square Art Park
621 Industrial Drive
Tallahassee, FL 32310
PHONE-850-222-6210
EMAIL-621galleryinc@gmail.com
Opening Reception | March 5th, 2021
Doors Open at 6:00 PM | Talk Starts at 7:00 PM
Exhibition Dates | 03.05.2021 – 03.26.2021
Abstract Stitch | Susan Hensel Project | solo exhibition
After 2 delays…
The Show Must Go On!
Abstract Stitch, in the Nan Boynton Gallery at 621 Gallery in Tallahassee, has been in the works for a long, long time!
I plan years into the future. I’m used to that. This show was scheduled more than 2 years ago to open a year ago…but, as we all know, the pandemic threw a wrench in the works. The pandemic still rages and travel remains risky. SO I will not attend in person. BUT please contact the gallery for instructions of how to join the Zoom artist talk!
Intersecting Torus 2
More From The Solo Art Exhibition
A single stitch is made by stretching a thread between two holes. The line formed by it can be loose or tight. It can be thick or thin, depending on the diameter of the thread. It can be long or so short that it barely exists. But, it can never exist as more than a single defined geometric event, a sort of singularity. The combinations of these singularities create planes, lines, forms, and geometrical space.
For several years, starting with the support of a Jerome Foundation Project Grant for Textile Art in 2014, my intense media focus has been on digitizing for machine embroidery. There is an assumption that the machine dictates the outcome, doing all the work for you. The computer and the embroidery machines are the tools that allow me to produce my vision. To quote Jane McKeating. “Color drips off the needle every bit as richly as that from a brush.”
Ellipic Geometry
Abstract Stitch | Susan Hensel Project | Solo Art Exhibition
The process is highly technical, using several software packages that can only be described as a non-intuitive cross between Photoshop and Illustrator. In truth, creating digital embroidery is limited. This is because of both the geometry and the capability of the machine and the materials. Needle and thread have real dimension and stitches can only be straight, joined together to suggest curves and forms.
Digital embroidery lends itself to the mission. The mission being, hard edge geometry as well as biomorphic form. The combination of high tech with “women’s work” provides a delicious contrast of hard/soft, nostalgic/current, objective/non-objective. This combination also lends itself to modular repetition and re-combinations. Themes can be played out quickly on the computer and then stitched and sampled oh-so-slowly on the machine. When combined with and without mixed media, wide-ranging exploration takes form in space.
Cushion Torus
In this chaotic time, digital textiles seem like a way to begin to bring order to the world. However, order is always unstable in true life. It is a glimmer of a hope which was cut off by random acts of chance or intent. It is no different in digital embroidery. In the computer, all things seem orderly, put together, and logical… it is almost as though the human propensity for chaos does not exist. In the production, chance operates: human error, flawed thread, broken needles, run out bobbins, high humidity, low humidity, fabric popping out of hoops and the panicked phone call from a friend. Repair savvy, canny attention and a spirit of wabi sabi is essential.
ABSTRACT STITCH
a solo exhibition by Susan Hensel
At 621 Gallery
Railroad Square Art Park
621 Industrial Drive
Tallahassee, FL 32310
PHONE-850-222-6210
EMAIL-621galleryinc@gmail.com
Opening Reception | March 5th, 2021
Doors Open at 6:00 PM | Talk Starts at 7:00 PM
Exhibition Dates | 03.05.2021 – 03.26.2021
Abstract Stitch | Susan Hensel Project | solo exhibition
