Shaker Textile c. 1936

Helen Gilman made this textile piece, and what I see here is a conversation between color and form, a tightly woven abstraction. The red and green stripes vibrate, kinda like Agnes Martin's grids, but with a folksy twist. I can imagine Gilman, focused, maybe a bit obsessive, repeating those lines. Each stroke a meditation, a building up of something simple into a complex whole. It makes me think about the materials she’s using, how the texture gives each stripe a little life of its own, like it's breathing. There’s something really satisfying about the handmade quality. It’s not slick, it’s not perfect, and that’s what makes it so good! It’s like she’s saying something about patience, about labor, and about finding beauty in the everyday. All these artists talking to each other across time.