Belt c. 20th century

This belt was made by an anonymous artist, and it lives at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. I love the way the materiality speaks for itself here – it’s all about the texture and the physicality of the medium. The main body has these little red shapes, packed in tightly, and the frayed edges gives it this raw, unfinished vibe, which I’m really drawn to. Each stitch has its own character. The artist isn’t trying to hide the process at all, it's all about the making. The piece as a whole feels like an ongoing conversation about patterns and shapes, a dance between intention and improvisation. You know, it reminds me a bit of the work of Anni Albers. She was a textile artist, and in a similar way she played around with the idea of the grid. This belt is also a good reminder that art doesn’t need to be huge or complicated to be meaningful.