 |
| Karen Fail and Irene Manion |
|
Irene Manion is passionate about fabric and stitch, and all the textile
work she showed the Quilt Study Group of NSW at the Powerhouse Museum on
August 14th exhibited her desire for perfection, a keen eye for design
and her perseverance with detail that left me in awe.
Irene is a Visual Arts Teacher and has been for the past 20 years.
Nothing could be more wonderful for students than to have a practising
artist for a teacher who continues to experiment and investigate new
techniques in her textile art. We were certainly impressed with her
array of technique swatches – some which worked and others that didn’t.
In the 70s Irene experimented with batik designs trying to capture the
landscapes in the Blue Mountains. This led her to develop a complex
multi-layered dying and waxing techniques. Examples of this early work
were breathtaking and made it hard to believe that only batik techniques
were used. The detail was wonderful.
Over
the last ten years, Irene has changed direction and is now using modern
technology in her textile work. She incorporates dye sublimation prints
of images she has developed from her own digital photos and drawings.
These are modified in programs such as Photoshop and Illustrator. She
then has these images commercially printed onto fabric and generously
provided us with a list of suppliers should we decide to experiment in
the same way. We even had an opportunity to transfer print one of
Irene’s images onto fabric for future use. Some of us even managed to
get three images onto fabric from one print.
Once Irene has the image she wants, she uses computerised machine
embroidery or free machine embroidery to enhance the digitally printed
surface. She had many examples for us to look at but most impressive
were the lorikeets, a beautiful wall hanging with birds in flight and at
rest. Irene showed us a few of the printed fabrics which she rejected,
again demonstrating her determination to get exactly what she wanted.
Eventually the background fabric was ready with fewer birds than had
initially been planned so additional 3D birds were added. These were
embroidered, padded and backed before being added to the background. We
were quite in awe as we appreciated the work and time investment for
this.
Irene very generously brought along her most recent work, which was part
of “A Conversation with Rain” exhibition at Fairfield Art Gallery and
Museum earlier in the year. Everyone spent at least some of their time
examining this delightful work carefully.
Fabric and stitch, it seems can come in all guises and Irene Manion has
certainly mastered the use of modern technology in her textile art and
inspired some quilt study groupers to expand their horizons.
Report from Karen Fail.
