Hoed van zwart zijden fluweel met een decoratie van maraboeveren c. 1915 - 1920

This black silk velvet hat with marabou feather decoration was made by Esther Meyer. I like to think about what kind of mark making is involved in millinery, the way a material is coaxed and persuaded into a certain shape, like a stubborn piece of paint. I'm interested in the way the velvet absorbs all the light, creating a dense, tactile surface, like looking into a black hole. Then you have these marabou feathers, which are light and airy, a total contrast. It's a funny combination, this heavy darkness and fluffy lightness. It reminds me of a kind of visual oxymoron, like a dark cloud with a silver lining. This piece feels like a collision of different ideas and materials, a kind of material conversation. It reminds me of the work of the surrealist artist Méret Oppenheim, who combined fur and teacups to create unexpected and unsettling objects. Art's like that, a constant dialogue across time and materials.