Stoffbilder
Jacquardweaves, draped
II: 83 x 73 cm
I: 63 x 68 cm
Maike Jansen‘s art is in close dialogue with her background as a textile designer. Her artistic work is a place where fashion and textile design considerations can be experimentally explored: What is the relationship between a garment and a body? What remains of a body in a garment? What is the cycle of dressing, wearing and taking off clothes? What role do folds play - a motif that not only has a long tradition in the history of fine arts, but also in philosophy from Leibniz to Deleuze. Stoffbild II (2022) raises the question of what the substance itself is. It literally oscillates between a geometric-abstract image and a three-dimensional object. The draping reveals the visually appealing negative-positive ratio of the front and back. The use of jacquard fabric also points to the importance of Krefeld as a historically important location for the textile industry. The material represents the beginning of the digitization of the working environment with the jacquard loom controlled by punch cards, which was invented at the beginning of the 19th century. Furthermore, Stoffbild II reminds us that applied arts, including textile design, have long been a female domain, and not necessarily voluntarily. Until the 20th century, it was the only creative field women could teach in academies.
Excerpt from Exhibition catalogue Productive Spaces, written by Barbara Hess for Kunstmuseen Krefeld, 2023.
