Agnes Richter (1844–1918) was a German seamstress who was a patient in a
psychiatric hospital where she created her embroidered jacket. She worked on it for
many years, sewing personal messages and markings onto the garment’s surface. It is
a complex mixture of drawing and writing. Much like a scrawl, the scratching on prison
walls, the caves at Lascaux, and the Watts Towers by Simon Rodia, to name a few
examples; the need for empowerment in a world where so much is out of our control,
may have been part of the reason for the work’s creation. A longing for self-efficacy
seems to be part of the human condition that is embedded in our collective DNA.
What the examples above have in common with Agnes’ jacket is that they were created
over time, have ambiguous iconography, and the artists did not have patrons. The cave
painters’ multigenerational re-drawing, or redefining the images, the stenciled hands
waving at us from Santa Cruz, Argentina, thought to have been worked on over
thousands of years, Simon Rodia’s construction using found materials such as railroad
tracks, discarded bottles, ceramic tiles; they each represent personal, even private
sentiments. Most of us can relate to having these feelings, regardless of our culture,
age, or ability level. They are both intimate and universal.
Art is one of the things that distinguishes us from animals. We feel something when we
see, read, or listen; we communicate with each other about what we feel, what we think.
To experience art is to honor the connection with other people who are trying to tell us
something about ourselves. This requires attention, and willingness to listen. But how
do we know or decide who or what to listen to? Or perhaps another way to ask is who
decides for us?
Agnes Richter left a mark. She created a physical object with spiritual energy that
outlived its maker. Why did she do it? Why did the cave painters make the images?
Hunting magic used to be a popular theory for the cave painters. The underlying theme
in most of these theories is that images make us feel that we are connected to or have
some control over something outside of ourselves. This seems to be a historical
underpinning. But what about now? What role does the artist play in the range of
cultures that compose our global reality? Has it ever changed, or just disguised itself
according to the Avant Garde du jour? What about Artificial Intelligence? Can we
understand and aesthetic experience generated by a machine?
Why do we make things? Why do we make them beautiful? Why do we make them
ugly or hard to look at? Why is iconoclasm a constantly recurring phenomenon? Is art
entertainment? Political messaging? Protest? Maybe for Agnes Richter it was a simple
way of saying “I am here, I exist.”
Carol Heft is a New York City-based artist and educator. She is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and her work has been exhibited internationally. She teaches Drawing, Painting, and Art History at several colleges in New York and Pennsylvania, and is represented by the Blue Mountain Gallery in New York City.