Woman's skirt (Corte) c. 1950

This ‘Woman’s Skirt’ was made by an unknown Maya artist, and it's all about geometry and colour. I love how the artist isn't afraid of colour, and how they have committed to a pattern. The skirt is a grid of star shapes, each composed of a central hexagon surrounded by triangles. The triangles are made from colourful patterned fabrics, which each star slightly different in tone. The background is white, and is quilted with a simple running stitch. What's interesting here is how the individual fabric pieces are all different, like the artist is using whatever she has to hand. The textures of the fabrics must be so varied! It reminds me of the paintings of Gee’s Bend quilters, who created radical compositions from scraps of fabric. Ultimately, this skirt shows us that art is about more than just the final product. It's about the process, the materials, and the artist's vision. It’s a textile which blurs the line between craft and high art.