Coverlet c. 1941

This is Cornelius Christoffels' drawing of a coverlet. The grid structure is so precise. You can tell he really considered the color and pattern. The repetition of forms is almost meditative. I'm drawn to how the blue and orange intersect. Notice how some squares appear to float on top of a lighter ground. It's like a very thin veil of pigment has been applied. I can almost see the ghost of the weave beneath. The imperfections are so telling. The lines aren't perfectly straight. You can sense the hand of the artist. It’s a reminder that artmaking is a human process. It's these subtle variations that give the work its soul. The drawing has a bit of Agnes Martin's delicacy about it, but also the bold color choices of someone like Al Loving. Ultimately though, it’s its own thing: a conversation about form and function, control and chance.