Handkerchief 1935 - 1942

This anonymous Handkerchief is an opportunity to consider the way textiles speak. Look at the way the colours pool into one another, almost staining the paper. There is something intimate about the process, as if the maker is experimenting with how colours can bleed and merge. The two squares of fabric, divided by the paper, each feel like a different experiment, or a different mood. The red square feels bright and airy, while the red and gold square below it feels darker, heavier. I'm drawn to the top right corner of the bottom swatch, where the mustard yellow is slightly smudged, as if the maker ran their finger through it to push the pigment further into the weave. It gives a sense of the maker, their hand and body in the image. The image makes me think of Etel Adnan's small, vibrant paintings of Mount Tamalpais; intimate, devotional pieces made by someone with a close connection to the world around them. Art is an ongoing conversation, and this piece shows how the simplest form can be deeply beautiful.