Shaker Bedspread 1935 - 1942

Editor: This is Lucille Chabot's "Shaker Bedspread," made between 1935 and 1942, rendered in pencil and fibre art on paper, and it strikes me as an exercise in seeing order where one might only expect a pattern. It feels so carefully considered. What do you see in it? Curator: Well, it whispers to me of simple living and deliberate design – almost a meditation manifested through thread and pencil. Imagine the artist, Lucille, finding profound beauty in everyday utility! It reminds me that the Shakers saw spiritual value in labor and in pure form. I'm curious, do the variations in tone strike you as expressive, or strictly representational? Editor: I think there's a tension there; the colour palette feels very pared back, almost uniform, but that in turn invites closer looking. There is more complexity to be found within those squares, which feels…expressive. Curator: Absolutely. And it asks us: Can abstraction, in its reduction, lead to a deeper connection with something real? Perhaps it even suggests a woven soul – threads of earthly and ethereal life interlaced? What did you learn from considering this work? Editor: That there is beauty to be found everywhere, even in textiles, if one just takes the time to stop and really see it. How about you? Curator: It reinforced how artists can alchemize the mundane. To imagine someone transforming a humble bedspread into this artwork is truly a testament to human imagination.