The Power to Choose, 2015, tapestry fragments woven on a computerized jacquard loom
Nick Simko
Fragmentia
2015
The tattered and torn contemporary weavings in “Fragmentia” articulate the allegorical narratives of a Eurocentric past as being handed down only ever in pieces and never wholes. These textiles were made using a multi-step process that utilized digital imaging techniques and computerized weaving technology. First, individual figures, sculptures, and flowers were captured as digital images in a photo studio as well as in museums and other historic sites. These elements were then digitally cut out and collaged together into ensemble groups that resemble the compositions of sixteenth-century Italianate and Flemish tapestries. Next, the cartoons were woven at life-sized on a computerized jacquard loom. Finally, the woven works were torn apart, rendered as incomplete pictures whose mythologies are never disclosed in their entirety.