Wrapper c. late 20th century

This beautiful textile, titled "Wrapper," is housed here at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and was made anonymously. Look at the gorgeous indigo dye. The whole thing breathes of process, of repetition, of someone figuring it out as they went along. I can imagine the maker, folding, dyeing, unfolding, and seeing what happens. It's the kind of work that makes you want to get your hands dirty, to try something new without knowing exactly where it will lead. Maybe they were thinking about the sky, or water, or maybe just the rhythm of their own hands. There's something so satisfying about a repeated gesture, a mark made over and over until it becomes something else entirely. It reminds me of the meditative quality of Agnes Martin's grids, or the obsessive mark-making of Yayoi Kusama. It just goes to show, that art is a conversation across time and place, each artist building on the ideas of those who came before, and hopefully inspiring those who come after.