The Warp And Weft Of Memory by Renee Turner is a hypertext biography, which honors the life and legacy of Dutch visual artist Gisele d’Ailly van Waterschoot van der Gracht. The piece is split into three distinct sections: Notes, Epistolary, and Semantic Tapestry, each one drastically different in both purpose and meaning.
In the Notes section of the piece, we learn about Turner’s fascination with Gisele, as well as why she chose to create a digital piece honoring her after her death. It describes Gisele’s interest in fashion, her huge collection of clothing items, and how she came to include her pieces in her artwork. Turner discusses how she came across Gisele’s closet following her death, as well as her decision to document the clothing, along with some aspects of Gisele’s life and the person she was. Overall, the Notes section serves as a sort of introduction to the piece.
The Epistolary consists of correspondence between Turner and writer Kate Pullinger as well as Turner and literary scholar Frans Willem Korsten. Each letter discusses different meaningful aspects of life as well as how they pertain to Gisele and her mentality and lifestyle. Some overall themes include: female roles, women vs society, aging and major life changes, home, empathy, creativity, imagination, and ambition, along with others. Each of these major themes applies to Gisele and her life in one way or another, and they become lessons that the reader can learn from her. Turner includes these letters in order to highlight Gisele as a person, but also to demonstrate what an interactor can take away from her life, values, and opinions.
At the end of the Epistolary there is a letter entitled “The Unreceived Note,” in which Renee addresses Gisele directly, speaking about the finished piece and how it came together. She talks about it in terms of a tapestry, pieces of Gisele’s life woven together to create a project honoring her and her legacy. The letter feels very personal, as Renee reflects on years worth of work and connection with Gisele. In the final paragraph, she manages to say goodbye to Gisele in her own way, wrapping up the entire project.
The last major section, the Semantic Tapestry, is an archive of Gisele’s closet. When you click on Semantic Tapestry a long list of garments comes up, you then click on one of the garments which brings up every picture of that clothing item that Turner has archived. There are scans of each item, along with pictures of Gisele wearing the piece, and images of the garment in her artwork. If you click on any one of the images it will appear bigger, and a list of more information about the photo will come up. Details such as where the photo was taken, who is in it, the garments that are included and the pose that the individual is in are all outlined. Pictures include her completing everyday tasks, painted self portraits, dramatic images of her absurd outfits, and simple glimpses into her life. Each photograph helps the reader to better understand Gisele, her life, her style, and her artwork.
The fourth section is the Colophon, which gives credit to the individuals who worked on the piece, outlines the copyright laws associated with it, as well as the funding and support used to create it.

This entry was written by Madeline Wolfgram for ENGL 693: Digital Literature, Professor Melinda White, University of New Hampshire, Spring 2025