Skirt (Aksu) 1965 - 1975

This Skirt, also called Aksu, was crafted anonymously and is now here at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. The way the different colors are layered together, especially in the stripes, makes me think about how the process is as important as the final product. You know, when you look closer, the skirt shows a real understanding of materials – of wool, and dyes. The texture feels like it could be course and homespun. The bands of color are vibrant, with red contrasting with the darker ground. The edge with the yellow, red and brown is just amazing, and then there are these little abstract motifs in between! They look like llamas, or maybe they are just shapes, which is great too. The colors and forms remind me of the textiles of Anni Albers, who saw weaving as a form of pure abstraction. The beauty of this skirt lies in its ambiguity: it's functional but it’s also so visually intriguing and open to interpretation.