Art Interlude: Patchwork Foto

I make art from time to time. I like to put words on things and enjoy using my utter lack of training in computer-aided graphic design to my advantage.

Example: the homepage of my website. I needed new slideshow pictures desperately. I have no web designer on retainer at the moment, nor do I have Photoshop (these things are expensive and I need to pay rent in New York right now.) Necessity is the mother of invention, as anyone with a website and no “web guy” knows, so, faced with a creative challenge, I cobbled together a solution that I feel turned out pretty slick. I used from images from my book, multiplying them and staggering them just so. I like the result. Check it out when you’re done here, if you like.

The humble scanner is a great tool for non art-school people who wish to make art with their computer. The scanner is really a camera, only what you take pictures of takes on this flattened quality because, you know, the scanner is flat and stuff. I started scanning quilt blocks a few years ago (my Twitter banner has been a scanned red quilt block forever) and thought they were just rad-looking; there’s a milky quality to fabric when it’s scanned, and all the threads seem magnified and all the rips are suddenly centerstage. I love it.

This weekend I did some scans, this time with messages and fabric from my stash with some patchwork thrown in for fun. Examples above of what I call “Patchwork Foto.” That’s what these sorts of pictures are called, I’ve decided. It’s like “ramen.” Singular, but it has lots of pieces. It’s art! You gotta name it funny.

I’m breaking the “one image only” rule for PaperGirl but the exception proves the rule and besides, this is a series. Watch for more of these and the development of them. They’re part of a larger project.