The prompt “Media” made me think of investigative journalism right away. I’ve always been in awe of newspaper journalists that write diligently researched, sometimes risky and eye-opening feature articles on matters of importance to the social and political life of a country. In some countries it’s outright dangerous, and journalists get prosecuted for publishing their findings.

In this day and age, investigative journalism is more important than ever. Trying to untangle the truths and facts in a gigantic web of misinformation and falsehood is not easy. In my piece, I wanted to touch on these themes and celebrate those brave writers.

This piece is actually the third one in a series that deals with the theme of being tangled in different layers of meaning – literal, abstract, representational. The printed tangled ball is a recurring visual element in those artworks, and here the tangled shapes represent the unruly mess of misinformation and false facts that has hidden the truth.

I made a paper cloth with actual newspapers to serve as the background of the larger tangled structures. The cutting away of the red fabric reveals the “real” news and shows the effort of journalists to get to the bottom of things.

The left side of the piece is hand stitched with lines resembling newspaper articles in boxes, to reference a newspaper page layout.

Let’s hope the journalists keep doing their important work and serve as a bulwark for democracy by holding those in power to account.

Untangle the News (Tangled #3)
Regina Marzlin
Dimensions h40″ x 24w”
Material: cotton fabric, newspaper, acrylic paint, oil paintstick, embroidery floss
Technique: piecing, reverse applique, monotype printing, hand- and machine stitching