Mola

Mola; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2012

My mom bought this mola in Arizona for me early this year. Isn't it gorgeous? I'd like to hang it as it is, without framing it, but first I need to add a hanging device that won't stress the textile. In 2001 I was in a four-person show called Red at the Textile Museum of Canada. Margaret Ballantyne, the conservator, generously taught me how to attach hanging devices that evenly distribute the tension and therefore don't stress textiles. Needless to say, I redid all my hanging devices for the show. She also showed me how to properly roll my textiles. The proper hanging device involves sewing a "female" strip of Velcro onto a muslin strip, and then hand-sewing the muslin strip-Velcro combo to the textile. To hang the textile, simply staple the "male" Velcro strip to the wall and press the male and female strips together. If you don't want to put staples in your wall, you can glue or staple the "male" Velcro strip to a thin piece of wood, drill holes on either end of the wood, and hang it level with two nails.

Mola detail; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2012

Back to the mola, don't the faces look like monkey kings? I wonder about the story behind this textile and who made it.

Mola detail; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2012

Mola detail; Photo credit: Karen Thiessen, 2012

The above image reminds me of a Matryoshka doll.