Art Institute of Chicago

"Eye-Dazzler" Weaving

Navajo (Diné)

Date

1880/1900

Medium

Cotton and wool, single interlocking tapestry weave; twined selvages and heading, overcast finish terminating in tassels

Culture

Navajo

Department

Textiles

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Navajo weavers, most of whom were women, developed a new, more colorful and complex style of weaving in the late 19th century: they began incorporating wool yarns that had been dyed with vibrant commercial dyes, made available through expanded railroads. They often rendered the junctures between colors as serrated, zigzag lines, creating dynamic patterns that visually vibrate. For this reason, these textiles have come to be called “eye dazzlers.”

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