Six Prayers 1965

Anni Albers made this artwork, titled "Six Prayers," by weaving. Look at how each prayer, or panel, has come into being—woven line by woven line, maybe through trial, error, and intuition. I sympathize with the artist and wonder what it might have been like to create something like this. The material aspects are so present: the texture, the color, the surface. I'm thinking about how it feels to run my hand over a canvas, feeling the weave of the fabric, the way the colors sink in. Notice a particular gesture: the delicate, horizontal strokes of the weaving that make up the middle ground of the composition. These communicate feeling, intention, and meaning. It makes me think about the ongoing conversation between artists across time, like Albers's interest in pre-Columbian textiles. Artists are constantly in an exchange of ideas, inspiring one another’s creativity. Each artwork becomes an embodied expression which embraces ambiguity, allowing for multiple interpretations and meanings.