Cargador 1920 - 1930

This is a striped textile by an unknown Maya artist, and it's BIG, almost six by five feet. I love how straightforward and matter-of-fact the stripes are. It's not trying to be anything other than what it is: a series of vertical lines alternating between beige and off-white, with thin green borders. It's a simple, repetitive pattern. But look closer, and you'll notice the slight variations in the width and texture of the lines. Each one is a little wobbly, a bit imperfect, and that’s the beauty of it, it's clearly handmade. There's a kind of honesty to the surface. You can see the weave of the fabric, the way the dyes have absorbed differently in places. It feels like the process is right there on the surface. The whole thing reminds me a bit of Agnes Martin, another artist who used repetition and subtle variations to create these fields of color and texture. But where Martin's work feels very precise, this has a more organic, human quality. It embraces imperfection, and invites you to do the same.