Tussenzetsel van roomwitte machinale kant met patroon van aaneengeschakelde bloemen, op karton c. 1925

This is a length of machine-made lace, with a pattern of interconnected flowers, mounted on card, by Gustav Schnitzler, and it lives at the Rijksmuseum. The creamy white colour palette is so subtle, it's like a whisper. And the repetition of the floral motif speaks to the nature of artmaking as a process, a kind of slow, deliberate building. I’m really drawn to the material aspects here, the way the lace is so delicate, almost ephemeral, against the rough texture of the cardboard. You can almost feel the contrast between the soft, intricate patterns of the lace and the rigid support it's attached to. In the way that the lace is layered and bunched on the card you can see a kind of rhythm that mirrors the overall floral pattern. This piece reminds me a little of the work of Ree Morton, in its use of unconventional materials. It seems to suggest art is an ongoing conversation, an exchange of ideas across time. It’s a form that embraces ambiguity and multiple interpretations, rather than fixed meanings.