Fisher College of Business

Techno Relic
higher resolution 65 kb

Fiber and mixed media, 36" x 24"
Computing Services Reception
Foyer 305

Bernie Rowell uses layers of sewing, paint, and metallic fabrics to create highly textured, light-reflective surfaces on canvas. In her Techno Relic series, she embellishes the surface with ceramic semi-conductors, resistors, and circuit boards. Rowell's fiber pieces appeared in the exhibits Southern Quilts, A New View, 1990-1992, and Visions-Quilt San Diego, 1998, and in the nationally touring Quilt National Contemporary Quilts, 1997. Her work has been commissioned for corporate collections throughout the United States, including Kaiser Permanente, Atlanta; Hewlett Packard, Fort Collins, Colorado; WorldCom, Columbus; and Mitsubishi Semiconductor America, Durham, North Carolina.

Our industrial culture produces mountains of disposable objects as we move forward with technology. Nowhere are replacement and obsolescence more immediate than in the computer and electronics industries. Viewing various throw-away items as artistic elements is perhaps partly justification for a cluttered lifestyle, I find myself attracted to certain objects without having clearly visualized uses for them; yet, collecting these bits of junk supplies a wealth of material. The visual beauty of electronic circuitry inspired the Techno Relic series. Ceramic semi-conductors and circuit boards became the centerpieces in formal compositions -- altarpieces for the religion of technology.