Textile Sample
circa 1910-28
(silk)
Abstraction. The
designer of this pattern lets the visual texture of the colours and shapes
overshadow the generic use of the textile. At first glance the motifs seem to
come alive and start rotating like the intricate mechanisms of clockwork:
whatever the ribbed purple and beige 'stems' are meant to represent (could they
be dragonflies? leaves?) they split the plane in half with the tension of their
twisted spines and sharp multi-pincers. Flanking them, the more puddle-like,
swollen buds float on the surface of the black pool and occasionally, with a
bit of imagination, appear to wince from the slight puncture of the passing
'stems'.
The design is flat,
but at the same time layered; the language of its decorative elements encourages
us to view it as a depiction of something unlabelled, unknown. Accepting that
it is weird, cluttered and confusing allows the design to emulate a beauty of
its own - a beauty that is able to thrive as long as no one expects it to speak
clearly or to represent something obvious. Only then, at second glance, should
we realise that besides having the standard function of covering a surface the
textile is also meant to function as a window. Accessible to anyone who sees
it, the textile invites the mind to a game of trickery; to fall into the cracks
of a puzzle; and to momentarily flow against the rules of reality.
