Round Coiled Plaque c. 20th century

This coiled plaque was made by the Tohono O’odham, or Papago, people. It's made of plant fibers, woven in concentric circles to form a shallow dish. The straw-colored background is punctuated by angular designs in black. It reminds me of the way artists think about the relationship between positive and negative space, the way shapes affect each other. You can see the hand in it, the way the materials are coaxed and pulled into shape. It's not perfect, there's a looseness to it that makes it feel alive. The central circle of dark pigment draws me into the center of the piece, a whirlpool, a kind of vortex. Then, the geometric forms radiate outward. There's a really interesting use of the zig zag motif to create a sense of movement and rhythm, a bit like the work of Anni Albers. I like the way that craft traditions seem to operate in an ongoing exchange of ideas, each generation building on the work of those who came before, to create something new.