Woman's Shawl (lliclla) c. 20th century

This 'Woman's Shawl' was made by an anonymous artist, and the textile is currently held at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. You can tell a lot about the making of something just by looking closely, especially when it comes to textiles. It’s a slow process, meditative even. Think about the colours in this piece: red, black and white, and the way they speak to each other. Notice the subtle variations and imperfections within the stripes and the borders, these aren't printed, the artist has painstakingly created them by hand. Each decision, each line, becomes a record of its making. And these aren’t just colours; they're also textures, surfaces and history. The borders feature repeating patterns, and are also subtly different to each other. It's in these inconsistencies where the art truly lives. It makes me think about the work of Anni Albers, who thought so deeply about how something is made, and why. I'm left with the impression of art as an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas across time. There’s something freeing about understanding that art doesn’t have to be perfect to be powerful.