Historic Patterns 2018

Terri Kelly Moyers made this lovely painting, Historic Patterns, sometime in the 20th century. The young woman swaddled in that striking blanket is the star of the show, but around her float these ghostly images that feel ancient, like they've been lifted from cave walls. I wonder, when Terri Kelly Moyers was making this painting, was she thinking about time? I mean, really thinking about time? How the past isn't really gone but hangs around, like those echoes on the wall behind the woman. And that blanket—wow! It’s practically vibrating with colors, red, yellow, white, black. The paint looks thin, like maybe she built up the colors in layers, each one glowing through the next. Those zigzag edges! Each one is a little different, a little wonky, and that's what makes it feel so alive. It's like she's saying, 'Hey, history isn't just one thing, it’s messy and beautiful and full of surprises.'