Woman's hat 1930 - 1940

This "Woman's Hat," as it is called, sits in the Minneapolis Institute of Art like a painting on a wall, but crafted with thread and cloth. Imagine the unknown artist, hunched over her work, carefully stitching patterns into the fabric, each stitch a deliberate mark, a building up of color and texture like layers of paint on canvas. The dominant red, embellished with geometric patterns and dangling ornaments, pulses with energy. What was she thinking as she stitched? Perhaps about the woman who would wear this hat, or perhaps just lost in the rhythm of the needle and thread, the push and pull of creation. The hat transforms into a map of the artist’s inner world. Like a painter experimenting with different brushstrokes, she explores the possibilities of embroidery. The texture is rich, the colors vibrant, each element contributing to the overall feeling of opulence and care. It reminds me of Hilma af Klint, another unsung hero, working in isolation, pushing the boundaries of her craft. Artists are always in conversation, you know, across time and space, inspiring each other, pushing each other to see the world in new ways. And what's so great about that, is that it makes us all better.