Tapa Cloth Skirt 1995

This Tapa Cloth Skirt was made with dye on barkcloth by Baruga. What strikes me first is the warm, earthy palette and how the repeated patterns suggest a process of careful, almost meditative mark-making. Up close, the material aspects of the work really come alive. The texture of the barkcloth, combined with the slight irregularities in the dyed patterns, speaks to a hands-on, labor-intensive process. The dye isn’t uniformly applied, and that gives the piece so much character. Look at one of the ‘heart’ shapes and you can see this more clearly. You know, seeing this piece, I’m reminded of the work of Ree Morton, another artist who embraced repetition and simple forms to create work that is both visually striking and deeply personal. I really feel like art's all about this ongoing conversation, and these exchanges of ideas across time can be so surprising. Ultimately, the beauty here is how this object balances precision with a kind of raw, expressive energy.