Woman's skirt (Corte) c. 1950

This Woman's skirt was carefully pieced together by a Maya artist, sometime in the past, using fabric and thread. I imagine the whole work coming into being slowly, organically, each piece considered and placed, the artist maybe humming to herself, perhaps surrounded by family. The geometric shapes of the skirt, mostly hexagons and triangles, give it a kind of playful formality, each one a little world of pattern. There are so many colours and motifs, stripes, florals, and plaids. I feel the maker's hand in every stitch, the choices, the careful arrangement of colors and patterns; this is what gives the quilt a feeling of intimacy and warmth. Quilting is a slow, repetitive practice. As an artist, I find it comforting that it allows for a lot of room for thought and reflection, that it becomes a meditation. I like to think about what the artist was thinking when they made it, how the repetitive motions were generative of ideas, feelings, and memories. It's all there in the final work, and we can feel it across time.