Marjorie Madsen with her quilt. ‘Artificial Flowers’. Courtesy photo
ART NEWS RELEASE
Local artist, Marjorie Madsen, attended the premier reception of her art quilt, Artificial Flowers, in the Studio Art Quilt Associates Global Exhibition, AI: Artistic Interpretation. This show invited artists to be inspired by, or to respond to artificial intelligence and digital media.
“Artificial Flowers was designed by conversing with a large language model, a feedback loop where I learned how the model worked as the model learned what I wanted. Having never used AI before, I tested several different options before finding one that created images that I could work with. Sometimes the flowers were too far apart, the leaves were not quite right, or the rock wall was strewn about. Ultimately I cut and pasted the best elements together to create the overall design. AI relies on mathematical functions and uses prime numbers. There are prime numbers of each type of floral stems and in the colorways of each floral element. As the algorithm moves from node to node, the stitching represents different functions including f(x) = x, f(x) = ln(x), f(x) = bx, f(x) = sin(x), f(x) = x2, and a Fibonacci series. It is quilted using buttons on the reverse side to represent nodes and how much of AI runs in the background. AI generated images frequently have some “not quite right” details, and these flowers are no exception: zippers for zinnias, denim for delphinium, buttons for allium, and unusual prints instead of solid colors everywhere,” Madsen explains.
Quilt was completed in 2025 and has dimensions of 16” x 42”. It was created using denim, upcycled shirts, embroidery floss, buttons, zippers, felted wool, lace doilies, interfacing, and cotton fabrics. Artificial Flowers has a pieced background with appliquéd floral and stone elements, 3-D leaves embedded in seams, and embroidery embellishments.
The exhibition at Louisiana State University Museum of Art, Baton Rouge, LA runs through May 10, 2026. Starting January 2027, the show will move to the New England Quilt Museum, Lowell, Massachusetts through May 1, 2027. Other venues will be added up through December 2029. For more information about this show, visit https://www.saqa.com/art/exhibitions/ai-artistic-interpretations-saqa-global-exhibition. For more information about the artist, visit https://rocketmanartworks.com/ or https://www.instagram.com/rocketmanartworks/