Dress c. 20th century

This ‘Dress’ was made anonymously at an unknown date, with unknown materials; which, in some ways, frees us to think about it. Someone, somewhere, made this dress, and adorned it with rows and rows of stitches. I love to think about the process. It’s all so evenly spaced and organized, yet the piece has a quirky human quality that only handwork has. It’s all about material and process. Someone spent so much time doing this work! The eye follows the marks, and it's the repetition that makes it so beautiful. Look at the center, where the red accents form a bold line, drawing your eye from top to bottom. This reminds me of the Gee’s Bend quilters, or even Agnes Martin’s grids. It’s that idea of slow, repetitive, meditative work, an ongoing conversation about how we see and experience the world. The anonymous nature of the artist only adds to the mystery and the multitude of interpretations.