Coverlet c. 1937

This "Coverlet" was made by Barnes, sometime between 1855 and 1995. The patient, almost pixelated quality of the marks here really gets me thinking about how artmaking can be about a devotion to process. Looking closely, the texture gives the game away, it’s not paint at all, but the effect is similar – a kind of optical mixing that happens through the juxtaposition of all these tiny marks. This reminds me of some colour field paintings, where a single hue is broken down into many different tones. I love the naive quality of the symmetry, that is slightly off kilter, the colours also; a muted green, pink and a sandy brown, like they have been pulled from nature. These tiny marks build up to form the flower at the centre and radiates out into a series of concentric rings, there’s something of the mandala in this. Its all about small acts of devotion adding up to something bigger, Barnes’ work connects with the tradition of folk art, like the quilts of Gee’s Bend. Art can be about embracing all sorts of different approaches and interpretations.