From swaddling cloth to winding sheet, the soft, slack depth of fabric has often been the inspiration for painting. The material comes between the painter and his model: the gesture that glazes the canvas meets the gesture that folds the drapery. ‘The postural model of my body can be found in an image outside of me. But is not each human being like an image of myself?’ Dismantling the structure of clothing restores the original fabric, the specular screen on which the lustrous face of the monochrome unfolds.
~ Roland Flexner (Fabric-Made Body, 27)
The images below represent objects explored through The Fabric of Cultures projects.
Select an object in the grid to learn more.
