Collar 1900 - 1916

Here is a lace collar, whose maker is unknown, preserved at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Imagine the hours this piece must have taken to create, the threads looping around each other, each gesture building upon the last. When I look at this, I think of my own work: how a single color, repeated and refracted, can transform a surface, create a rhythm, a harmony, and the way a line leads to a form, that blooms into something new. And I feel a kinship with this anonymous artist, this unknown hand that carefully knotted each stitch. It’s all about the tactility, right? The way the lace feels to the touch, the subtle variations in texture, the way light plays across its intricate patterns. Each tiny movement, each tiny knot, contributes to the overall effect. You can see how artists across time influence one another, in a conversation that never truly ends, that always continues to evolve and change with each new maker, each new work of art.