Yattha Charkhab c. 20th century

This textile, Yattha Charkhab, a gorgeous expanse of meditative making, invites us to slow down and think of the hand that made it. I wonder about the person that decided on this grid of soft brown. Each shape a little different. Look at the ways the colored threads are embedded to make these radiant geometric forms and the way the surface is worked—a process of back and forth that becomes a form of personal expression. I can picture the artist’s hands moving in a dance of intuition. I'm sure there were doubts and revisions, and the piece slowly emerging through trial, error, and a heck of a lot of labor. There’s an echo here, for me, of a conversation across time—between folk art traditions and contemporary practice. We're all drawing from the same well. It's a reminder that art is always in dialogue, always evolving, and always deeply personal.