Mola Blouse

The midsection of this blouse features a mola, a textile made by a Guna artist of Panama. The mola was created by sandwiching many layers of cloth with different colors together. The maker cut concentric designs into each layer, folded the raw edges under, and carefully stitched them down, to reveal the layer beneath—a technique called reverse appliqué. These intricate patterns originated in traditional body paint but have become a defining Guna textile tradition in both Panama and Colombia. Instead of being made into blouses to be worn, like this one, other molas in the Art Institute of Chicago's collection were sold as individual works of art.