A word, heard in a dialogue between two fellow passengers on the train, half a sentence overheard in a conversation between two neighbours on a park bench, a quotation from an interesting book, a concise headline from a newspaper… Nature with its manifold patterns, colours and shapes, the beauty of a fabric, social conditions that need to be questioned, the impact of our wasteful society… All of this ignites fantasies, develops ideas for an interpretation, a transformation, a realisation with the creative artist’s own means of expression, through his treatment and artistic realisation. Very interesting materials but little known or even never used in artistic creation, and certainly not in textile art, provoke the desire to work them artistically, to transform them into an art-work. Some colours, street or nature views, unusual colour combinations, which can be seen on the clothes of city strollers, a reflection on the value and meaning of colour, awaken the need to work with them. The techniques and materials used for their realisation are as varied and different as the sources of inspiration. The digital world is becoming more and more powerful and is now occupying an increasingly large place among creative techniques.

Textile art is the desire and pleasure to realise and process the most diverse materials in such a way that they delight in a new aesthetic. There is no taboo, not only the entire range of the textile spectrum, even unprocessed or melted plastics, are involved: Metal, PET bottles, packaging, felt, polyethylene tarpaulins, bark, glass and more. Characteristic for the implementation of these materials are accuracy and precision, which requires an enormous amount of time and patience. The art- works seem to be very different, but they all have a certain rigour in terms of colours either very harmonious in the nuances of a colour or in a carefully chosen contrast , but the most important principle is to please the eye, to trigger emotions, to keep the soul balanced, to relax and let the viewer come to rest. Faced with the horrors of the world around us, to preserve ourselves, to keep the world and the future healthy and balanced. After studying art education (among other things) for the teaching profession and studying fine arts at the Folkwangschule Essen, Dieter Filler, who is of German origin, sought his path of creation under different materials (wood, clay, plastic). At the beginning of the 90s he discovered in Switzerland the possibilities of creating imaginative and creative paintings with materials. He attended courses to learn the traditional techniques developed by the Amish people in the United States. He was limited by the supposedly limited possibilities of expression, the too strict rules of design and the always same material, so that he developed a personal form of implementation. The entire textile palette as well as new materials and the third dimension as surface relief were included. The various courses attended over several years in Ste Marie aux Mines as part of the “Carrefour Européen du Patchwork” have increasingly motivated the development towards “textile art”. « I always have the feeling that my days are not enough to realise all the ideas, plans and dreams that are going through my mind ». Dieter Filler.