Textile 1935 - 1942

This ink drawing on paper, made by an anonymous artist, is of a textile design. I'm looking at these delicate, meandering lines forming sprigs of flowers and berries and wondering about the hand that drew them. I imagine the artist, maybe in a design studio, playing with variations on botanical themes, trying to get the balance just right. It’s a dance, this act of composing. How much space to leave between the elements? How to suggest depth and movement with the simplest of marks? The artist probably considered how the pattern would repeat and flow across a length of fabric. They would have explored different arrangements, always seeking that perfect harmony between nature and artifice. I'm thinking about other artists who have taken inspiration from textiles, like Sonia Delaunay, blurring the boundaries between fine art and design. It’s a conversation across time, with each artist building on what came before, borrowing and inventing, in the endless pursuit of new forms of beauty.