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Narrative Text from 2019 Exhibit at the National Quilt Museum, "Freehand Patchwork by Danny Amazonas":
"I was born in Taiwan and always loved art in all forms. As a jack of all trades, I tried painting, sculpture, and making gold jewelry, even got into international cuisine! I was a professional floral designer in New York City in the ‘70s. Of all the things I tried, sewing wasn’t one of them.
In the early ‘80s, I was working with mosaic art using various materials. Later, in the ‘90s, I retired from business and returned to my birthplace to take care of my aging father. I then discovered the world of colorful fabrics and the art of quilting. I perceived quilting as the art of sewing pieces of fabric together to create a beautiful design. As such in my own concoction of fiber art, while not knowing the basic requirements of quilting, I developed my own ‘quilting techniques’ for recreational purposes.
My work eventually evolved from mosaic patterns into free-form. In 2012, using a new technique unprecedented in the field of fiber art, ‘freehand patchwork’ was born. Freehand patchwork is an unorthodox technique that is like painting with colorful fabric. The beauty of the original textile designs are fully expressed while freely interpreting the image of the textile art. This is something extraordinary that could not be achieved in painting. Using just a rotary cutter, overlapping layers of fused fabric and exposing the raw edges is something traditional quilters rarely do.
I realized working with fabric is far more complicated than painting technique wise. A fiber artist won’t be able to mix colors in a palette, but can collect an array of colors and shades of fabric in order to create a unique piece of art with full spectrum of colors. I love to cut fabric in large chunks to show the beauty of textile designs, and those designers should be praised and credited as well.
This exhibition of my quilts will help visitors understand how my artwork has developed through years of learning and finding new techniques. But most importantly, I think visitors want to see through my mind, by observing the artworks to make that connection. I believe expressing the ideology and concept of artwork is essential to seek continuity of creating artworks, rather than just lingering around techniques.
Every piece of my artwork is machine sewn with invisible thread with free motion stitches."