Stencilled Floor c. 1938

Edward DiGennero created this untitled stencil design sometime in the 20th century. It feels process-oriented, like he was thinking through his hands. What grabs me here is the materiality: the flat, matte quality of the paint makes me think of old-school stencils or even wallpaper, but with a folk-art twist. Look at the way he's built up the layers—those leafy motifs and angular borders are so crisp against the dark background. There’s a lovely tension between the graphic precision of the stencils and the slightly wonky, handmade feel. That one rogue flower with the white dot is like a wonky eye. It's a small detail, but it throws the whole thing off in the best possible way, reminding me of outsider artists like Bill Traylor, who brought a similar kind of raw, unfiltered vision to their work. This piece feels like a testament to the beauty of imperfection, of letting the process guide you, which is what art-making is all about, right?