Historic Printed Textile c. 1940

Suzanne Roy created this textile print, and what jumps out is this feeling of looking back—maybe a little bit nostalgically—at a simpler version of America. I'm thinking about the artist and what she might have been thinking when she made it. A log cabin sits solid and sturdy in the foreground, with people gathered by the door and an American flag waving proud. I guess you could say this is like a sepia-toned memory. The color is simple, but the details in the trees and the landscape are intricate. It has a bit of the feel of folk art. Roy's textile shares something with quilting or other domestic arts, and there's a lot of intention and skill in its making. It connects her to other artists and makers, across time and place, who are moved by this same impulse to create meaning through images and materials. And it reminds me that these textiles can hold a multitude of meanings and feelings.