Rug c. 20th century

This "Rug" was made by a Navajo (Diné) artist, sometime in the past, and is now in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art. What I see in the rug is an all-over pattern of diamond shapes against a red ground, interspersed with short vertical dashes in off-white and yellow. I can only imagine what it was like for the weaver to produce this work. I think of the artist, who’s perhaps been working at this piece for days and weeks. For me, the rug is more like a painting, or at least like a painting process. There is a conversation, in this rug, between color and form and the history of its use.