Michael F James
Untitled (no. 15), 2022
Digitally printed cotton; hand-stitched 20" h x 28" w framed
This work is one of a series of precisionist geometric constructions reconsidering formal and spatial counterforces. The execution process is focused, intimate and contemplative. The digital interfaces that I employ (Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Fresco, Procreate and digital textile printers) result in unique patterned fabrics that combine with a hundreds-year-old patchwork technique to coalesce as integrated and tension-filled compositions.
Michael F James
WILD DREAMS (collage #9), 2023
Mixed media (printed cotton, reactive dyes/dye sublimation; found paper; hemp cord, thread; gouache, marker; felt; stitching, fusing; linen mount) 26" h x 36" w framed
These “collages” (more “bricolages” really) developed from a strong impulse to work more intuitively and spontaneously, and to put some distance between myself and my long relationship with patchwork and quilts and their familiar conventions. I’ve learned to use several design apps on my iPad, (Adobe Fresco, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Tayasui Sketches Pro, and Zen Brush) and these have produced the painterly and relatively unstructured surfaces that form the grounds onto which I build with assorted materials and techniques. Some of them start with a folio format, and I like the notion that as such they can be “read,” but as visual rather than narrative texts.
Michael F James
Haveli 3 (Varanasi), 2018
cotton & reactive dyes; machine-stitched 50.25" h x 64.75" w
Michael F James
Tree of Life (Udaipur), 2019
cotton & reactive dyes; machine-sewn 28" h x 37" w
