Craft / Pixel and Thread, Networks Australia, Tuggeranong Arts Centre until June 7. Reviewed by MEREDITH HINCHLIFFE.

Networks Australia is a collective and this show brings together 12 members.

Pixel and Thread explores the intersection of the digital and tactile, uniting the realms of technology and traditional craftsmanship, we are told by the blurb in the catalogue.

Stephen, an embroidered portrait by Angela Coleman, appears to fit the original brief. As the artist says, this is a very literal translation of Pixel to Thread. An old photograph is transformed through copying and stitching to create a portrait of a young child.

Leaf Litter by Beverley Moxon is another example of photography and stitching. An original textile work – created by the artist – was photographed, printed on fine art paper, and then further embroidered. She has captured the feeling and look of decay and renewal that exist on the floors of national parks and forests and other uninterrupted wooded areas. The use of embroidery over the printed surface of the photograph brings out the fine details of decay and renewal and insect trails, with a three-dimensional surface.

Artist Liz Perry points out, cloud refers to visible masses of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended high above us in the sky, that appear to be white and fluffy. The word also refers to innumerable, mega-sized networks of servers that hold much of our data. Her work The Cloud is a compilation of woven pixels suggesting what a “cloud” may be.

Monique van Nieuwland, a highly skilled weaver, is showing two scarves that refer to weaving and to the pixels that make the pattern, both titled Pixel Threads – double weave interlacing. They also use double weave – where the artist weaves two layers of cloth at the same time. They both depict the enlarged three-dimensional structural quality of a plain weave. They are soft, warm, and beautifully woven. They are sophisticated and, as we are told, bring together the technology and traditional craftsmanship.

I was disappointed in most of the works in this exhibition. It felt to me as though technology has become more important than thread and the original idea. These last two exhibits make it worthwhile to visit the exhibition.