Scarf c. 20th century

This Scarf at the Minneapolis Institute of Art is undated and was made by an anonymous artist. The colors in this piece really get me, like a song, and the hand-made imperfection is also something I think a lot about in my own paintings. The scarf has dominant lines of crimson, with a bandhani-like pattern of white dots overlaying it all. But what really pulls me in is trying to imagine the mind-space of the person who made this. I can imagine the maker totally absorbed in the process, working intuitively and finding their way through the making. The result has this incredible warmth and authenticity, and this makes me think about how much intention and mark-making matters. It's about a language, a conversation. The artist is expressing something about the joy of repetition, of creating something wearable, and of contributing to the ongoing story of pattern and textile design.