Tunic c. 20th century

This tunic was crafted anonymously, and the way the patterns seem to emerge from the fabric gives me a sense of artmaking as a gradual, unfolding process. The material itself—the woven base, the stitched designs—speaks volumes. The texture has a simplicity, but then you’re drawn in by these intensely worked areas of geometric shapes in blue and red. It's like observing the patient accumulation of tiny decisions; the maker working with what they have, building something intricate from basic elements. I keep returning to the maze-like bands of pattern that run down the sides of the tunic. The way these forms are constructed from individual stitches, their slightly irregular grid, invites a kind of slow looking, much like the kind of attention and care that went into the tunic's making. It brings to mind the work of textile artists like Anni Albers, who approached weaving as a form of drawing. In the end it celebrates the value of a slower, more attentive process.