Sampler c. 1937

This needlepoint sampler was stitched in 1844. Can you imagine the hours spent on this, each tiny stitch building up this little world? I wonder, what was Susanna Lawton thinking as she made this? Needlepoint is a slow art. Her mind could have wandered as her fingers flew, thoughts becoming things, and things becoming thoughts. The materiality of the thread, that repetitive stabbing, the texture, the color—a red house, blue dress, all these tiny sheep, all these shapes adding up to a little world… It reminds me of those pixelated images of early computer art—each stitch is like a pixel, forming a bigger picture. And look at how Susanna has arranged the figures and objects. They don't quite sit right, but I like the strange way of seeing. It’s like the folk art of her time in conversation with our contemporary moment! The history of painting is full of such conversations; each artist borrowing, riffing, and adding to the ongoing dialogue. It's kind of amazing to think about how each artist helps another to see and think.