Fragmentia

2012-2015

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.

© Nick Simko 2025. All rights reserved.

Fragmentia
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The Power to Choose, 2015, tapestry fragments woven on a computerized jacquard loom

The Power to Choose (detail), 2015, tapestry fragments woven on a computerized jacquard loom

The Power to Choose (detail), 2015, tapestry fragments woven on a computerized jacquard loom

High Drama, 2015, tapestry fragments woven on a computerized jacquard loom

High Drama (detail), 2015, tapestry fragments woven on a computerized jacquard loom

Fragmentia installed at Hillyer Art Space

Allegory of Art History, 2012, tapestry fragments woven on a computerized jacquard loom

Allegory of Art History (detail), 2012, tapestry fragments woven on a computerized jacquard loom

The Hard Way, 2015, tapestry fragments woven on a computerized jacquard loom

Mask with Wreath, 2015, tapestry fragments woven on a computerized jacquard loom
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