Historic Printed Textile c. 1940

This printed textile was made by Suzanne Roy, who lived between 1855 and 1995, though we don’t know exactly when she made this particular artwork. Look at how the whole composition is created out of tiny little brown marks – it’s fascinating to think about artmaking as a build-up of these marks and gestures. The first thing that strikes me about this piece is the texture, or rather the *illusion* of texture. The whole thing is just one shade of brown, a bit like sepia photographs, but within that, the artist creates layers of depth. I love how you can almost feel the roughness of the log cabin against the smoothness of the American flag above it, and this incredible contrast makes the flag stand out even more. All these marks and symbols are laid out so skillfully. The more I look, the more I think about folk art and artists like Henri Rousseau. There’s something about the use of symbolism in this piece, like the bells and the stars that just gives it this really idiosyncratic flavour. For me, art is often about ambiguity and finding new perspectives.