Artwork Details
- Title
- Edson’s Flag
- Artist
- Date
- 2004
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 130 × 84 in. (330.2 × 213.4 cm)
- Copyright
- © 2004, Marie K. Watt
- Credit Line
- Gift of Driek and Michael Zirinsky in honor of Jane Beebe and Spencer Beebe
- Mediums Description
- American flag (from U.S. military burial) with wool blankets, satin, and thread
- Classifications
- Subjects
- Object — other — flag
- Object Number
- 2015.28.7
Artwork Description
In Edson's Flag, Watt, a member of the Seneca Nation, pays tribute to Indigenous warriors and war veterans, including her great-uncle Edson. She makes a unified piece from pieces that might not seem to fit easily together--a section of patchwork quilt, wool blankets evoking trade-goods (one army-green, one red), and an American flag. Invoking icons of America that are overtly connected to mainstream white culture, she summons an alternate set of associations from these same forms--specifically those related to intergenerational, Indigenous memory.
Works by this artist (1 item)
Videos
Explore Marie Watt’s artistic journey through unconventional materials and textiles. In this video she discusses how her work Edson’s Flag honors veterans, her family, and her Native culture. Learn how her artistic focus turned to blankets, which she sees as humble and simple objects that are imprinted with the powerful stories of our lives.