Basket c. 1910

This basket was made by Indé, who was Apache. The evenness of the weaving and the patterns wrapping all the way around – you can just feel the maker's hand and patience! The straw material is like a painting surface here. It’s built up slowly, row by row, to create this vessel. See how the surface is both textured and soft? The dark bands are woven right in, creating geometric shapes that almost seem to float on the surface. There’s a subtle shift where the basket curves inward – it’s like a breath being held. That's where the pattern changes, too, becoming more dense and darker near the top. It reminds me of the work of Anni Albers, who also saw weaving as a way of drawing in space. It’s all about how the simplest materials, repeated over and over, can create something unexpected and beautiful.