Maternal veil (Pido) c. 1920

This Maternal veil was made with dye on cotton by an anonymous artist. I love how the central yellow field bleeds and softens in contrast to the patterned borders of the veil. This contrast shows a deep understanding of how materials behave and interact. Looking closely, the veil has a complex arrangement of repeated motifs, a bit like a tapestry of tiny worlds. The texture is smooth but you can see the fibers and weave of the cotton, which gives the piece a really intimate feel. The motifs, circles, and elephants look carefully hand-printed, so each image is slightly different. It reminds me that art-making is just as much about what happens as it is about what you planned to happen. The way the border is organized reminds me of some of the pattern paintings of the 70s and 80s, but this veil goes so much further back! It suggests how art ideas are always recycled and re-imagined across time. It’s hard to know for sure what this piece means, and that’s what makes it so interesting.