Browse Items (254 total)

Multiple cats can be seen in this ingenious dulemola composition — two smaller ones in profile nestled within the overall orange outline of a larger third one in the center. In another reading, the larger cat could be seen frontally with its tail…

Shellfish, fish, and turtles, as seen here, are mainstays of Guna diet and economy. The month of May is known as the "Moon of the Turtle" because that is when the giant leatherback turtles lay their eggs. This special time has been officially…

The Guna free dive down as far as eighty feet to catch the Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus), or rock lobster, shown in the blouse panel. Spiny lobsters resemble "true" lobsters and are edible, except they have very long antennae and only…

Some images of the coral reef may be as illusionistic as this, showing how the same subject has many interpretations by different artists. Gracefully swimming fish, a seahorse, and a hermit crab appear very lifelike. The artist has even foreshortened…

This blouse panel represents the all-important coral reef that used to thrive in the San Blas Islands where the Guna live, but is now endangered. The piece renders coral as an abstract pattern of branching, pointed elements. It aptly communicates the…

This blouse panel combines the long-practiced technique of cut, folded, and sewn patterning with actual appliqué, the sewing of additional shapes on top. The lozenge shapes are made in the traditional way, cutting through and folding back to reveal…

Guna aesthetic masterfully balances maze-like linear designs with figuration. The image of a mother feeding her baby bird is barely distinguishable from the spiraling black and red forms. However, larger areas of black for the birds' heads and the…

A tiny Guna girl wore this blouse with its vivid front and back dulemola panels of orange and blue. The geometric patterns and two colors make these dulemolaguna traditional, the type called “grandmother” to show it is an older idea (versus those…

Unlike today’s synthetic dyes that can produce any color— whether dark, light, or even florescent—in pre-Industrial times certain hues and values (colors and their relative darkness) were more difficult to attain than others. Using natural indigo…

The textile artists of the ancient Andes, such as the Chancay of the central coast, invented nearly every known fiber-working technique, including the unique embroidered openwork seen at left and right. While it may resemble lace, it is first loosely…