The Gallery of Contemporary Textile Artists
Michael Brennand-Wood
United Kingdom
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Artist's Statement
Since 2001 I have worked extensively with a multi head, computerized sewing machine. Process is reflective of content and this machine, allows an idea to be constantly revised at all stages of its evolution. Imagery is drawn on paper, scanned, digitized and machined out on cloth, during which, programs can be overridden and adapted. In many ways its no less flexible than any other hand made process. The machine exerts it’s own form of creative intervention, particularly in relation to the choice of applique, programming and thread. During the last eight years I have endeavored to view the process of machining as a continuous series of open-ended experimentation. The purity of machine embroidery was always going to be an issue.
I knew from the beginning that I didn’t want to create exclusively on cloth; I wanted to construct a personal ground, one that would allow me to integrate the machined units creatively with other 3 dimensional materials. In terms of construction, the reliefs explore the illusionary space between two and three dimensions, combining machine embroidery, fabric, acrylic paint, metal, glass, thread and collage. Initially based on a series of 2001 photographic flower installations, ‘Stars Underfoot’, that were inspired by the historical use of floral imagery as a source for textile patterning, the relief panels that reference spatial and geometric orientations sourced from early stitched and woven textiles in particular Suzanis cloths.
The relief works are colorful, dramatic, rhythmic and almost holographic in feel with intense detail that merges at a distance into strongly optical configurations. Most importantly, the physical depth of the works enables the viewer to interact with the work as they move across the visual field. They have a kinetic dimension, one that has become more pronounced in the most recent works, which literally project into space. -
Micheal Brenand Wood Statement
Since 2001 I have worked extensively with a multi head, computerized sewing machine. Process is reflective of content and this machine, allows an idea to be constantly revised at all stages of its evolution. Imagery is drawn on paper, scanned, digitized and machined out on cloth, during which, programs can be overridden and adapted. In many ways its no less flexible than any other hand made process. The machine exerts it’s own form of creative intervention, particularly in relation to the choice of appliqué, programming and thread. During the last eight years I have endeavored to view the process of machining as a continuous series of open-ended experimentation. The purity of machine embroidery was always going to be an issue. I knew from the beginning that I didn’t want to create exclusively on cloth; I wanted to construct a personal ground, one that would allow me to integrate the machined units creatively with other 3 dimensional materials. In terms of construction, the reliefs explore the illusionary space between two and three dimensions, combining machine embroidery, fabric, acrylic paint, metal, glass, thread and collage. Initially based on a series of 2001 photographic flower installations, ‘Stars Underfoot’, that were inspired by the historical use of floral imagery as a source for textile patterning, the relief panels that reference spatial and geometric orientations sourced from early stitched and woven textiles in particular Suzanis cloths. The relief works are colorful, dramatic, rhythmic and almost holographic in feel with intense detail that merges at a distance into strongly optical configurations. Most importantly, the physical depth of the works enables the viewer to interact with the work as they move across the visual field. They have a kinetic dimension, one that has become more pronounced in the most recent works, which literally project into space. -
Micheal Brenand Wood Statement
Since 2001 I have worked extensively with a multi head, computerized sewing machine. Process is reflective of content and this machine, allows an idea to be constantly revised at all stages of its evolution. Imagery is drawn on paper, scanned, digitized and machined out on cloth, during which, programs can be overridden and adapted. In many ways its no less flexible than any other hand made process. The machine exerts it’s own form of creative intervention, particularly in relation to the choice of appliqué, programming and thread. During the last eight years I have endeavored to view the process of machining as a continuous series of open-ended experimentation. The purity of machine embroidery was always going to be an issue. I knew from the beginning that I didn’t want to create exclusively on cloth; I wanted to construct a personal ground, one that would allow me to integrate the machined units creatively with other 3 dimensional materials. In terms of construction, the reliefs explore the illusionary space between two and three dimensions, combining machine embroidery, fabric, acrylic paint, metal, glass, thread and collage. Initially based on a series of 2001 photographic flower installations, ‘Stars Underfoot’, that were inspired by the historical use of floral imagery as a source for textile patterning, the relief panels that reference spatial and geometric orientations sourced from early stitched and woven textiles in particular Suzanis cloths. The relief works are colorful, dramatic, rhythmic and almost holographic in feel with intense detail that merges at a distance into strongly optical configurations. Most importantly, the physical depth of the works enables the viewer to interact with the work as they move across the visual field. They have a kinetic dimension, one that has become more pronounced in the most recent works, which literally project into space. -
Micheal Brenand Wood Statement
Since 2001 I have worked extensively with a multi head, computerized sewing machine. Process is reflective of content and this machine, allows an idea to be constantly revised at all stages of its evolution. Imagery is drawn on paper, scanned, digitized and machined out on cloth, during which, programs can be overridden and adapted. In many ways its no less flexible than any other hand made process. The machine exerts it’s own form of creative intervention, particularly in relation to the choice of appliqué, programming and thread. During the last eight years I have endeavored to view the process of machining as a continuous series of open-ended experimentation. The purity of machine embroidery was always going to be an issue. I knew from the beginning that I didn’t want to create exclusively on cloth; I wanted to construct a personal ground, one that would allow me to integrate the machined units creatively with other 3 dimensional materials. In terms of construction, the reliefs explore the illusionary space between two and three dimensions, combining machine embroidery, fabric, acrylic paint, metal, glass, thread and collage. Initially based on a series of 2001 photographic flower installations, ‘Stars Underfoot’, that were inspired by the historical use of floral imagery as a source for textile patterning, the relief panels that reference spatial and geometric orientations sourced from early stitched and woven textiles in particular Suzanis cloths. The relief works are colorful, dramatic, rhythmic and almost holographic in feel with intense detail that merges at a distance into strongly optical configurations. Most importantly, the physical depth of the works enables the viewer to interact with the work as they move across the visual field. They have a kinetic dimension, one that has become more pronounced in the most recent works, which literally project into space. -
Micheal Brenand Wood Statement
Since 2001 I have worked extensively with a multi head, computerized sewing machine. Process is reflective of content and this machine, allows an idea to be constantly revised at all stages of its evolution. Imagery is drawn on paper, scanned, digitized and machined out on cloth, during which, programs can be overridden and adapted. In many ways its no less flexible than any other hand made process. The machine exerts it’s own form of creative intervention, particularly in relation to the choice of appliqué, programming and thread. During the last eight years I have endeavored to view the process of machining as a continuous series of open-ended experimentation. The purity of machine embroidery was always going to be an issue. I knew from the beginning that I didn’t want to create exclusively on cloth; I wanted to construct a personal ground, one that would allow me to integrate the machined units creatively with other 3 dimensional materials. In terms of construction, the reliefs explore the illusionary space between two and three dimensions, combining machine embroidery, fabric, acrylic paint, metal, glass, thread and collage. Initially based on a series of 2001 photographic flower installations, ‘Stars Underfoot’, that were inspired by the historical use of floral imagery as a source for textile patterning, the relief panels that reference spatial and geometric orientations sourced from early stitched and woven textiles in particular Suzanis cloths. The relief works are colorful, dramatic, rhythmic and almost holographic in feel with intense detail that merges at a distance into strongly optical configurations. Most importantly, the physical depth of the works enables the viewer to interact with the work as they move across the visual field. They have a kinetic dimension, one that has become more pronounced in the most recent works, which literally project into space. -
Micheal Brenand Wood Statement
Since 2001 I have worked extensively with a multi head, computerized sewing machine. Process is reflective of content and this machine, allows an idea to be constantly revised at all stages of its evolution. Imagery is drawn on paper, scanned, digitized and machined out on cloth, during which, programs can be overridden and adapted. In many ways its no less flexible than any other hand made process. The machine exerts it’s own form of creative intervention, particularly in relation to the choice of appliqué, programming and thread. During the last eight years I have endeavored to view the process of machining as a continuous series of open-ended experimentation. The purity of machine embroidery was always going to be an issue. I knew from the beginning that I didn’t want to create exclusively on cloth; I wanted to construct a personal ground, one that would allow me to integrate the machined units creatively with other 3 dimensional materials. In terms of construction, the reliefs explore the illusionary space between two and three dimensions, combining machine embroidery, fabric, acrylic paint, metal, glass, thread and collage. Initially based on a series of 2001 photographic flower installations, ‘Stars Underfoot’, that were inspired by the historical use of floral imagery as a source for textile patterning, the relief panels that reference spatial and geometric orientations sourced from early stitched and woven textiles in particular Suzanis cloths. The relief works are colorful, dramatic, rhythmic and almost holographic in feel with intense detail that merges at a distance into strongly optical configurations. Most importantly, the physical depth of the works enables the viewer to interact with the work as they move across the visual field. They have a kinetic dimension, one that has become more pronounced in the most recent works, which literally project into space. -
Micheal Brenand Wood Statement
Since 2001 I have worked extensively with a multi head, computerized sewing machine. Process is reflective of content and this machine, allows an idea to be constantly revised at all stages of its evolution. Imagery is drawn on paper, scanned, digitized and machined out on cloth, during which, programs can be overridden and adapted. In many ways its no less flexible than any other hand made process. The machine exerts it’s own form of creative intervention, particularly in relation to the choice of appliqué, programming and thread. During the last eight years I have endeavored to view the process of machining as a continuous series of open-ended experimentation. The purity of machine embroidery was always going to be an issue. I knew from the beginning that I didn’t want to create exclusively on cloth; I wanted to construct a personal ground, one that would allow me to integrate the machined units creatively with other 3 dimensional materials. In terms of construction, the reliefs explore the illusionary space between two and three dimensions, combining machine embroidery, fabric, acrylic paint, metal, glass, thread and collage. Initially based on a series of 2001 photographic flower installations, ‘Stars Underfoot’, that were inspired by the historical use of floral imagery as a source for textile patterning, the relief panels that reference spatial and geometric orientations sourced from early stitched and woven textiles in particular Suzanis cloths. The relief works are colorful, dramatic, rhythmic and almost holographic in feel with intense detail that merges at a distance into strongly optical configurations. Most importantly, the physical depth of the works enables the viewer to interact with the work as they move across the visual field. They have a kinetic dimension, one that has become more pronounced in the most recent works, which literally project into space. -
Micheal Brenand Wood Statement
Since 2001 I have worked extensively with a multi head, computerized sewing machine. Process is reflective of content and this machine, allows an idea to be constantly revised at all stages of its evolution. Imagery is drawn on paper, scanned, digitized and machined out on cloth, during which, programs can be overridden and adapted. In many ways its no less flexible than any other hand made process. The machine exerts it’s own form of creative intervention, particularly in relation to the choice of appliqué, programming and thread. During the last eight years I have endeavored to view the process of machining as a continuous series of open-ended experimentation. The purity of machine embroidery was always going to be an issue. I knew from the beginning that I didn’t want to create exclusively on cloth; I wanted to construct a personal ground, one that would allow me to integrate the machined units creatively with other 3 dimensional materials. In terms of construction, the reliefs explore the illusionary space between two and three dimensions, combining machine embroidery, fabric, acrylic paint, metal, glass, thread and collage. Initially based on a series of 2001 photographic flower installations, ‘Stars Underfoot’, that were inspired by the historical use of floral imagery as a source for textile patterning, the relief panels that reference spatial and geometric orientations sourced from early stitched and woven textiles in particular Suzanis cloths. The relief works are colorful, dramatic, rhythmic and almost holographic in feel with intense detail that merges at a distance into strongly optical configurations. Most importantly, the physical depth of the works enables the viewer to interact with the work as they move across the visual field. They have a kinetic dimension, one that has become more pronounced in the most recent works, which literally project into space.
Contact Details:
www.brennand-wood.com
