Artifact 3.1

This work explores the forms and textures of the artifacts left in and on my body after joint replaced surgeries. Photos were taken with my phone of x-rays, bone scans, and scar tissue. These photos are digitally manipulated, layered, enlarged and then inkjet printed with fabric dye. The final fabric is machine quilted in a way that uses the sewing needle like a drawing tool. The resulting whole cloth quilts are a twenty-first century blend of low- and high-tech processes. The finished object has the structure of a quilt, but the images are autobiographical. Artifact 3.1 originated in a photo of the scar tissue after total knee replacement. This recent surgical scar was on top of a scar from reconstructive surgery forty-four years earlier.