Servet 'Vlinder' van linnendamast 1905

This damask napkin, titled ‘Butterfly’, was designed by Chris Lebeau. The pattern of interlaced figures feels like a process, a back and forth, a kind of visual game. Thinking about the material, the cloth itself, the way the pattern emerges from the weave, it's all about texture. The slightly raised pattern against the flat ground. It gives the napkin a tactile quality, like you could close your eyes and trace the butterflies with your fingers. There’s something about the repetition of the butterfly motif, how it both defines the border and fills the space, that feels obsessive. It reminds me a little of Hilma af Klint’s work. She was also interested in pattern and repetition as a way to access deeper spiritual meaning. Both artists seem to understand artmaking as a form of ongoing conversation. Both Klint and Lebeau are not so much concerned with having all the answers as with creating a space for contemplation and questioning.