Coverlet c. 1936

Editor: This is a "Coverlet" from around 1936, attributed to J. Howard Iams, using textile as its medium. The repetition of patterns is striking. It's almost hypnotic to look at. What elements stand out to you? Curator: The overriding concern is the formal interplay of pattern and colour. Note how Iams constructs a visual rhythm through alternating horizontal bands. The navy, salmon and white tones don't particularly clash but resonate, giving the pattern depth. Editor: I see it! There’s a kind of layering created by those colours. Do you think the drawing's medium, textile, influences how we read the composition? Curator: Absolutely. The inherent qualities of fibre-art introduces texture and dimensionality. It transforms the drawing beyond the two-dimensional plane, imbuing it with a haptic quality absent in, say, a pen-and-ink study of similar pattern-motifs. Observe, also, how the fringes activate the edge, emphasizing the grid formation in an interesting way. It prevents the pattern from feeling too static, giving it a kind of visual release, so to speak. Editor: That's a helpful observation; I hadn't thought about the active role of the fringes. I was focused solely on the overall pattern. I'll definitely be paying closer attention to these structural choices in other textile works I encounter. Curator: Indeed, analyzing those individual material aspects gives us insight into the artwork itself and deepens the analysis.