Alison King: Photo-realistic textile art

Photo-Textile Artist Alison King combines delicate and seamless collage and free-machine embroidery with photographs printed on canvas. The finished artwork really builds on the photographic imagery, enhancing it to a higher level of realism through the use of texture and pattern.

Alison King received her Bachelor of Design degree at the Ontario College of Art and Design in 2004, majoring in Material Art & Design. During her studies, she began to photograph everyday things with a new sense of detail, drawn by the textures and colours she encountered. And it was here that she first started to combine pieces of her photographs into her textile works.

Alison’s continued passion for texture attracts her to decomposing buildings with peeling paint and worn woodwork, as well as the rough bark, layered leaves and velvety moss she finds in the local forest landscapes. These subjects inspired her to develop a process for recreating her subjects, where she uses photographs printed on textiles and embellishes using collage, appliqué and machine stitch. Her work has been exhibited throughout Canada and can be found in private collections worldwide.

In this interview we discover how Alison first started integrating photography with textile art for a photo-real effect with added texture, and how she continues to refine this process to achieve a seamless, smooth look to her work. She shares her inspirations for her work and her goal of creating large-scale pieces in the future.