Staal bedrukte trijp met streeppatroon in zwart op rood fond 1920 - 1930

This piece, made by Leo Schellens & Co, is steel-printed twill with a black striped pattern on a red background. I find myself imagining the movement it took to make this, the process of layering those black stripes over the red base. The artist probably experimented with different stripe widths and spacings until they found the right balance. I wonder, what was the artist thinking when they decided to add those zig-zag stripes? It's a playful touch that disrupts the regularity of the lines and adds a certain energy to the composition. Maybe they were inspired by textile traditions, or maybe it was just a spontaneous decision. The physicality of the material is important here too. The texture of the twill, the way the black ink sits on the red background, all contribute to our experience of the piece. In some ways, looking at a textile like this can also be like looking at a painting; in both, artists across time inspire one another to create.