Muts van zwart haarvilt en zwarte wollen tricot met twee geelkoperen knopspelden c. 1958 - 1965

This hat was made from black hair felt and black wool tricot, embellished with two yellow copper studs. I think about the maker, Katja Robinski, snipping and sewing and pinning. The hat seems like it came together through trial, error, and intuition, like a painting itself, shifting and emerging through action. I love how the texture of the black wool makes my eye sink into its surface. Those brassy studs, though! Are they piercings, wounds, or just decoration? I can imagine Robinski might have been thinking about the body when she made this hat, as armor, or a protective second skin. It makes me think of the sculptures of Lucio Fontana, who slashed holes in his canvases, opening up painting to new possibilities. Artists are always in conversation, I guess, inspiring one another’s creativity. There’s something really beautiful about the ambiguity and uncertainty here.