Untitled, 2017, wool on canvas needlepoint tapestry, 154 x 118 cm
The principle guiding my work is the belief that chance events open up opportunities of discovery. The chance event of a glitch, an error in a structured system, has been rendered in needlepoint tapestry with wool on canvas in an attempt to stabilise its ‘intrusion’ through aesthetic re-interpretation.
The same image has been used throughout this series, which originated in a computer glitch of one of my works. This was then screen printed and cut into 9 cm squares to provide the template for individual tapestries. Compositionally chance changes the relationship of components on an unconscious level, with the outcome differing from that of a considered composition.
The process of needlepoint is labour intensive and contradicts the essence of chance and the glitch. Each individual stitch represents a pixel from digital imagery, bringing the digital and analogue together. We are in perpetual motion in an age of digital information, quickly moving to the next image or piece of information. Perhaps the tapestry will give the viewer reason to slow down, ponder for a moment the time taken to build up the work in contrast to the instantaneous digital breaking down of the glitch.
Sarah Edmondson, June 2018
Photos: Docqment
