The Boulder Weekly

Arts and Culture

November 8-14, 2007

Tradition meets technology
Carol Krueger combines conventional fabric art with modern machinery
by Barbara Byrnes-Lenarcic

Fabric art has moved into the 21st century. Breaking away from traditional quilt making, today’s textile artists are playing with fabric, free-flowing designs, storytelling, color and computer technology in their art.

In Fabric at 50, Carol Krueger enters the decade by showing 26 works at Naropa University’s Nalanda Gallery (6287 Arapahoe Ave.), all created between 1999 and 2007.

Krueger got into fiber art in the 1980s after spending 17 years as a hairdresser and make-up artist. She specializes in computer digitized machine embroidery, a technique where motifs are designed on a computer and then sent to a sewing machine to be sewn out using a computerized embroidery unit.

Located in the University’s visual arts building, Nalanda Gallery is a long hall that features small gallery spaces with white and yellow walls. Krueger uses these nooks to divide her work into seven themes that cover city life, self-portrait in art, circle as motif, rhythm and movement, zanfirico, retro design and new work.

City life opens the show. In this segment, “Swing Street,” a tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim, Bruce Hornsby and Duke Ellington, is on view for the first time publicly. Krueger created the work in 2000 to hang over a piano in her Louisville home. Black, white and gray buildings beneath a turquoise, peach and green sky set an urban scene. Krueger focuses on the musicians by inserting digital images of each artist playing the piano under the skyline. Jobim, a Brazilian composer considered to be the father of Bossa Nova, is revealed in a sepia-toned image. Hornsby’s photo has yellow tones. Ellington’s shot is in rich browns. The musicians’ lyrics and song titles are stitched in turquoise and white thread throughout the work. In “Swing Street,” Krueger takes fiber art into documentary territory.  

Self-portraits fill the next mini-gallery. “Be you, there’s a shortage of those,” a quote by Maharaji, inspired Krueger to create “Be You” in 2002. In this piece, Krueger also digs into DNA by exploring if genetic sequencing can influence one’s ability to worry. The work features a repeated photo of a smiling Krueger on zippy, bright patterns. The artist’s flesh tones and hair color change with each take. The four building block letters that make up DNA surround each photo. In the middle of the work, the artist morphs into Alfred E. Neuman to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Mad Magazine. Krueger brings her mom and dad into the piece, as well. At the bottom of the work are three tiny maps that zero in on the birthplace of Krueger and her parents. A childhood photo of each person is inserted into the respective map.  “Carol at Four” is a large look at Krueger’s map shot. Fiber art meets memoir as the artist reveals herself, her parents and her background to the viewer.

In 2002, Krueger digitized a small circular motif that can be seen in 14 works scattered throughout the gallery. The motif is a two-toned egg shape on a colored circle. Krueger turns each circle work into a different visual experience by varying fabrics, colors and patterns.

“Tonal Meditation: Calm” becomes peaceful through the orderly placement of 49 circular motifs. Placed in the center of the work, the circular shapes, that are on colored squares and framed in black, are in straight rows that are seven across and seven down. Vertical lines in white, tan, blue and brown colors float behind the circles producing a tranquil effect. Peace goes south in “Gumball: Corner Pocket.” This work is full of frenzy with pink, green, violet and yellow circles and squares clashing and crashing in the composition. Krueger injects emotion into cloth with her deliberate color and design choices.

Zanfirico is a form of art glass constructed from intricate glass cones. The Venetian glass is from the island of Murano in Italy. In “Millefiore” and “Zanfirico,” Krueger scatters circular motifs, made from pieces of silk imported from Italy, like shards of glass across the quilt.

In the 1980s, Krueger took a trip to Rio de Janeiro. Twenty years later, the artist recreated the Brazilian soul and samba sounds in “The Conga Line, Rio.” Oval motifs, connected by orange thread, move across a black background between rectangle shapes drenched in bright blue, orange and yellow colors. Craft, creativity and technology connect in this work that is machined and hand appliqued with computerized machine embroideries digitized by the artist.

Krueger’s classic pottery collections from the 1950s and ’60s inspired her recent retro works. “Retro: Jazz” brings dots, circles, squiggles, zigzags and weird four-pointed motifs together for a trip into the ’50s.

Illuminated sculptures are Krueger’s newest fiber art direction. The artist constructs decorative nylon tulle and linen lampshades by using her signature computer digitized machine embroidery technique.

Fabric at 50 is an intriguing look at fiber art and a visual journal that demonstrates Krueger’s personal and artistic growth.

On the Bill:
Fabric at 50 will be on display through Dec. 12 at Naropa University’s Nalanda Gallery, 6287 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder, 303-579-1008, www.carolkrueger.com.

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