Four Quadrant Labyrinth Blocks Mola is a hand sewn textile panel made by the Guna people of Panama, known for generations as the Kuna. Four olive scroll blocks turn like pinwheels across bright orange, each one packed with the small hooked keys a Guna maker uses to fill a field without ever quite repeating herself. Order and motion at the same time, which is a hard trick to pull off. At 18 inches wide and 14 inches high it has the scale to carry a wall on its own, and it was worked by hand and finished on a machine. Strong over a sideboard, in a stairwell, or anywhere a room needs one piece of graphic art.Molas are built by stacking several layers of colored cotton, then cutting down through one layer at a time so the colors underneath show through, and turning every raw edge under and stitching it closed by hand. The technique is called reverse appliqué, and a good panel is judged by how fine the stitches are and how many layers deep the cutting goes. This one came from Guna Yala, the San Blas islands off Panama's Caribbean coast, where the designs draw on the birds, fish, plants and geometric patterns of the islands and rainforest. It is ready to frame, mount, or sew into a pillow or a quilt panel, and no two are ever alike.Founded in 1991, TraderBrock celebrates the handcraft of Latin America's indigenous peoples. Every piece comes from Guna, Wounaan and Emberá artisans we know by name, and all profits are reinvested in their communities for education, tools and the teaching of ancestral techniques. Buying from TraderBrock helps keep their culture and their traditions alive.Width: 18"Height: 14"SKU: 22052803T
