A triptych in embroidery & artificial intelligence
See No Evil,Hear No Evil,Speak No Evil.
The making, in motion
Before the image is complete, the machine draws with thread.
Silent loops · pause controls available.
Multi-needle embroidery machine stitching a pink-and-green portrait.Multi-needle embroidery machine stitching a pink-and-green portrait.
Close view of thread-tension dials on an industrial embroidery machine.Close view of thread-tension dials on an industrial embroidery machine.
Embroidery needles tracing a portrait across vivid pink fabric.Embroidery needles tracing a portrait across vivid pink fabric.
An ancient proverb reimagined as an allegory of technological disconnection—conceived with AI, made physical through embroidery.
Artwork status — Sold01Making
Embroidery: The Past Meets the Future
An old-world craft, depicting a world consumed by the new.
Thread by thread, a centuries-old technique renders the glow of the screen. The slowness of the stitch refuses the speed of the scroll.
Realized with Maison Vangart in France, the monumental embroidery turns machine-made imagery into a physical field of tension, texture and time.
Single embroidery needle working through the pink textile surface.02Result
Three Women. Three Silences.
Only after the making has been felt does the finished triptych appear.
A visor obscures sight. Headphones isolate sound. A phone covers the mouth. The devices promise access and connection, yet each can become a barrier between the women and the world around them.
The choice of women is deliberate. The work asks what we are not hearing, what we are choosing not to see, and whose voices we are failing to protect.
Remain present. Remain vocal. Remain connected.
Richard Nadler leaning over the embroidered work in the production studio. Focus or select to play the silent loop.03Artist
Richard Nadler
Tradition and artificial intelligence, held in the same hand.
Richard Nadler is a contemporary digital artist based in Munich. His work explores the interplay between tradition, artificial intelligence and digital media, often combining custom-trained models and handmade sketches with physical processes.
He approaches AI not as a shortcut or replacement for human ingenuity, but as a collaborative material whose output gains meaning through intention, revision and craft.
Conversation · 03:31
Richard on the work
The artist and the collector reflect on the triptych, its making and the physical presence of thread.
This film includes audible speech and is deliberately still until you choose to play it. Playback begins with sound and native controls; English subtitles are part of the picture itself.
- Speakers
- Richard Nadler
The collector - Accessibility
- Open English subtitles
Full transcript
Read the verified interview transcript
Timestamps follow the film. Speaker attribution follows the audible voice while the edit cuts between conversation, artwork and process imagery.
- 00:01
Richard Nadler
Hello all together. My name is Richard Nadler. I'm an artist from Munich, Germany. And I want to introduce you to my latest artwork.
- 00:14
Richard Nadler
So let's talk about the concept of the artwork. It's based on the well-known proverb: see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil. And it should contrast that technology somehow connects us, but it also isolates us.
- 00:29
Richard Nadler
So the triptych consists of three artworks where you can see three women. One woman wears dark glasses; they cannot truly see. One is wearing headphones; they are cut off from real sounds. One is using a mobile phone; their voices are silenced.
- 00:44
Richard Nadler
That means technology provides knowledge and opportunities, but can also hide the truth and divide us.
- 00:51
Richard Nadler
Why women are the focus of my artwork? Women worldwide are often silenced through violence, loss or digital harassment. The artwork asks whose voices we are not hearing, what truth are we ignoring?
- 01:05
Richard Nadler
Let's talk about the technology that I've used for these artworks. I've used embroidery, but most important, as an artist that lives in a digital world, I've worked with AI. And it was intentionally used to create part of the artwork.
- 01:19
Richard Nadler
It creates a kind of a paradox and the question: can technology truly be criticized if it's part of the art itself? It suggests that technology is neither good or bad. It depends on how we use it.
- 01:32
Richard Nadler
So what is the message and, like, the call to action that I want to send out with my artworks? The artwork encourages reflection on our relationship with technology, and it urges people to look beyond screens and truly connect with the world and each other.
- 01:47
Richard Nadler
I'm absolutely happy how the artworks turned out in reality, and I'm much more happier to see the reaction of my collector.
- 01:56
The collector
I've always been a big fan of Richard's work: his Japanese connection, the way he creates his work, his previous collection.
- 02:09
The collector
What distinguishes his work from the others is that he uses AI, but we've got always this impression of physical touch, of sensitivity, of being able to touch it, to have a feeling of it, like embroidery.
- 02:28
The collector
So when he came to me and we were discussing his new project, and he said that he wanted to create something with embroidery and the big templates and big frameworks and big works, I said it makes sense.
- 02:41
The collector
It was natural for me that he goes into that, and he showed me a few pictures and videos of what has been done and what he has seen.
- 02:57
The collector
And for me it made perfect sense to go into that, and I was looking forward to see it. And actually, I just discovered it now. It's impressive. I was a bit speechless because it's beyond what I thought.
- 03:14
The collector
It's in the terms of execution, the way it was created, the silk, the color, the light. It's just incredible.