Rose Pettuls

Transplant
Digital jacquard weavings, tattoo flash displays; 18 x 20 in.

Using the digital jacquard loom weavings as my main medium, and incorporating mixed media, light, and found objects, I create objects and installations inspired by virtual and simulated worlds – specifically within video games and horror movies (tropes of body horror, science fiction and folk horror revival), as well as corporate and medical items and imagery.

The digital jacquard loom integrates both traditional weaving methods and patterns with bitmap/binary designs and modern technology. With flattened uv map “skins” and 3D models as the main subject of my designs, I attempt to invoke a feeling of body horror, one that is simultaneously futuristic and almost digital but also physically tangible. In doing this I hope that the viewer will consider what it means to have a human body today and in potential realities, our relationship with fabric and everyday items, and the differences and similarities between virtual/digital and real/analog in the same way that the jacquard loom had historically blurred the lines between those worlds.