Coverlet (Section) c. 1941

This 'Coverlet (Section)' was made by Cornelius Christoffels, but we don't know exactly when. I’m imagining the artist, needle in hand, carefully building this textile, stitch by stitch. The work is a riot of little blocks, mostly blue and beige. It's like a pixelated dream of a star or a flower, framed by a border of green. The texture would have been lovely, like a topographic map. You can feel the hours of labour that went into its making. Each stitch is a decision, a mark, a tiny act of creation. I'm interested in how repetitive actions like this become meditative, almost like a form of drawing. Looking at it, I’m reminded of Gee’s Bend quilts, where geometry and colour come together. All these makers are in conversation, working through material and process. There's something so beautiful in the act of making, in the trying, failing, and trying again that binds us.