Segusha 1930 - 1940

This textile artwork, or Segusha, by Lakai, lives at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Looking at the bright red ground, overlaid with colorful motifs, I’m immediately drawn to imagine the meditative act of creating. I wonder about Lakai, what they were thinking as they worked, carefully selecting each color. You know, the process of making art becomes a conversation. The artist poses a question, listens, and then responds, action by action. Each stitch, each knot, a question. What if I put this orange next to that green? How can I get this shape to ‘pop’? And I imagine that Lakai, like all artists, had a burning desire to express something, to translate an inner vision into a tangible form. They’re in conversation with artists of the past and those yet to come. It's an ongoing exchange. This piece is an invitation to a world of shared experience, where meaning shifts and emerges.