Woven Coverlet c. 1940

Editor: This woven coverlet, dating back to around 1940, features intricate geometric patterns in blue and off-white. It has an almost dizzying effect on the eye with its repeating motifs. What’s particularly striking to you about this textile work? Curator: What grabs me is the emphasis on process. Think about the labor involved in creating this. The artist, John Gasaway, is engaging in a practice tied to folk art traditions, but also to the modernist interest in pattern and repetition. The act of weaving itself becomes a statement, a challenge to high art’s perceived separation from craft. How does the artist’s material choice shape your experience of it? Editor: I see what you mean. The texture, the slight imperfections… it all points to the human hand. Unlike, say, a machine-printed design, the subtle variations in the weaving make it feel more personal. Do you see any kind of social context reflected in this material? Curator: Absolutely. Coverlets like these weren't just decorative; they were functional objects, part of everyday life. In that era of making, we see both necessity and artistry intertwined. So the material tells us a lot about the values around utility and creation present during that time. Does it speak to modern ideas in design or material application? Editor: Now I am looking at the coverlet, the geometry feels forward-looking and modern; but I realize how I overlooked that it is rooted in the handcraft tradition. That changes how I view modernism. Curator: Precisely! Examining it through this lens helps bridge supposed art divides, showing how folk traditions inform even so-called “high art” movements. Editor: Thank you for pointing out the material properties of the coverlet, because that reveals folk traditions rooted within the object!