Grand Prayer Rug 1966

This is Sheila Hicks's 'Grand Prayer Rug', and just looking at it, I can see a whole world of touch and texture. Imagine the artist at work, hands moving, coaxing these tiny knotted tufts into place. Each one is like a little prayer, a meditation, building up to this incredible surface. I love the way the pale creamy tones contrast with the deep red peeking through. There's a rhythm to it, a sense of repetition and variation that feels both grounded and expansive. I think of Agnes Martin, another artist who used repetition to create these meditative fields of color and form. But with Hicks, there's this added dimension of the physical. You can almost feel the weight of the wool, the roughness of the fibers. It reminds us that art is not just about seeing, but also about feeling, about connecting with the world through our bodies. And like all good art, it leaves you with more questions than answers.