By Cameron Walker<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shadowy images from home videos flicker across the screen: long-ago parades, a now-grown child on a seesaw, a family station wagon. But the medium isn\u2019t film; it\u2019s fabric. Kate Nartker, new assistant professor for the Department of Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management (<\/span>TATM<\/span><\/a>) in the <\/span>Wilson College of Textiles<\/span><\/a> at <\/span>NC State<\/span><\/a>, creates her art where cloth meets computer screen.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe driving idea behind a lot of my work is exploring perception,\u201d she said. \u201cHaptic perception is something that I researched in graduate school, a way of looking where the eye operates as an organ of touch…I’ve explored this idea through digital printing, through weaving, through animation, different techniques and design applications and fine art.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through Jacquard weaving and digital printing, Nartker produces works — both still and animated —  imbued with a sense of nostalgia.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cJacquard weaving is different than weaving on other looms because each thread can be lifted individually, so you’re not confined to a repeat pattern,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is how you can weave an image or pattern that looks almost photographic, because it’s almost like a pixelated image. You can get this insane level of detail…Basically I start with a video, I render out a series of sequential images that I then weave. I scan the weaving back into digital format, then animate those woven images. It’s basically like a stop-motion animation, but the frames are coming from woven imagery.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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