Judy Langille
JUDY LANGILLE
"Torn Forms"
Printed and Stitched Layers on Fabric
THE ARTIST SPEAKS ABOUT HER WORK...
My early work consisted of hand printed and dyed fabrics that were pieced or fused together into collages to create unique compositions indicative of my personal form of artistic expression. Recently, I decided to create my work solely from one piece of fabric. These "whole cloth" compositions were achieved by transforming single large sheets of solid white or black fabric into cohesive compositions, using several different printmaking techniques. This new work follows the tradition from colonial America when quilts were made from one fabric.
My new compositions emerge from the hand-dyed cloth I create. The resulting textile designs represent a great deal of experimentation with silk screening techniques, old and new. I spontaneously tear paper to create interesting, irregular shapes with a secondary focus on the edges of these forms. These paper forms create a simple stencil resist to use in the silkscreen process. The use of the thermofax machine as a creative tool enables me to incorporate additional silk screen design elements into these images. Printing through a blank silkscreen with thickened dyes and discharge paste, I add or subtract color from the fabric in an impromptu fashion.
This process is repeated numerous times before the piece becomes a finished composition. There is a point in this process when I mindfully and in a controlled fashion organize the layers of color, shapes and textures so that they stand as a completed composition. Sometimes threads and machine stitching add another element to bring the whole piece together. In other instances the fabric stands alone and is displayed as "art cloth". All of my finished pieces reflect the spontaneous improvisational manner in which they were created.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Judy Langille is a nationally acclaimed fiber artist and experienced art educator, who has received grants from the Geraldine Dodge Foundation and numerous surface design awards for her art quilts and hand dyed fabrics. Her work has been exhibited at the most prestigious shows such as the Quilt National, Quilt Visions and Art Quilts-Philadelphia/Elements. Langille has also had her work published in national publications, most recently the Surface Design Journal where she co-authored an article called, "One Cloth, One Fabric: Whole Cloth Composition" In February 2009 she was the Artist of the Month on www.jerseyarts.com..
Holding degrees in art education from the State University of New York in New Paltz and a graduate degree from Queens College, she has shared her knowledge with students on many levels. She has taught grades K-8 in several New Jersey, NewYork school districts, college level at William Paterson University and adults at the Newark Museum.
She continues to work in her studio, exhibiting and teaching around the country in artist residency programs.
