Rachel Curley

Native American
(1921–2000)

Rug
1960

Wool
19 x 23.25 in.
Gift of Dr. Darwin Goodey
1998.4

Curley became well-known for her woven rugs in the Two Grey Hills tradition of weaving. Two Grey Hills rugs, typically created by Navajo weavers, are known for their muted colors, using only undyed wool to create elaborate geometric patterns and distinctive borders. Handmade of her own spun yarn, Curley’s rugs are known for their fineness and exquisite quality.

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This object has the following keywords:

• geometric patterns
• geometric shape - Shape characterized by regular shapes or patterns that are determined, constructed, or formed according to geometry.
• Navajo - The style and culture of a populous North American Indian group who live primarily in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah, speaking an Apachean language which is classified in the Athabaskan language family. At some point in prehistory, the Navajo and Apache migrated to the Southwest from Canada, where most other Athabaskan-speaking peoples still live; although the exact timing of the relocation is unknown, it is thought to have been between 1100 and 1500 CE. These early Navajo were mobile hunters and gatherers; after moving to the Southwest, however, they adopted many of the practices of the sedentary, farming Pueblo Indians near whom they settled.
• rugs - Heavy woven textiles used for a variety of utilitarian purposes essentially in the form in which they left the loom. In Western societies they are used primarily as floor coverings.
• textiles - General term for carpets, fabrics, costume, or other works made of textile materials, which are natural or synthetic fibers created by weaving, felting, knotting, twining, or otherwise processing. For works of art or high craft that employ textile as a medium, prefer "textile art (visual works)."

This object was included in the following exhibitions:

• Common Threads: History of Fiber Arts , 9/6/2016 - 12/10/2016
• FCSE 3030: Textile Science , 12/28/2019 - 6/13/2020
• Women, Surrealism, and Abstraction , 8/25/2020 - 7/9/2022

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