Mat before 1934

This woven mat, made by Mrs. Preston King, is an exercise in simple repetition and pattern. The colors are muted, organic – tans and browns that feel like earth. There’s something meditative about the way the horizontal bands are created. You can almost imagine the artist’s hands moving back and forth, weaving in and out, creating texture and rhythm. The dark, block-like shapes have a graphic quality, like simple letters from an unknown alphabet. Then there are the zig-zag lines that run across the mat, breaking up the pattern. I wonder about those lines. Do they represent water, or some other natural element? Perhaps they’re just there to add a bit of visual interest, to keep the eye moving across the surface. Agnes Martin comes to mind here. Both share that interest in grids and repetition, but Mrs. King’s mat has a warmth and tactility that’s all its own. Art is always talking to art; in this case the conversation is about texture, time, and the simple act of making.