Pulkari (Head Coverning) 1900 - 1925

This Pulkari head covering at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, made anonymously and undated, is all about process; an endurance of labor and devotion. The brick red field is like a canvas, but here the marks aren’t made with brushes or paint, but with tiny, golden stitches, creating a field of repeating motifs. The embroidery is so dense, the texture of the fabric becomes secondary. Up close, you can see each individual stitch, each a testament to the maker's hand. There's a hypnotic rhythm in the repetition, it is the kind of labor that becomes meditation. The border is more intricate and ornate. Concentric circles are stitched within squares, like little golden suns or seeds, enclosed within the overall field. It reminds me of the work of textile artist, Anni Albers, whose pictorial weavings also investigated the intersection of craft, design and modernist abstraction. This Pulkari, like Albers’ work, is more than just decoration. It's a mapping of time, labor, and the enduring power of simple materials.