Crazy Too Quilt

Lia Cook, Crazy Too Quilt, 1989, dyed rayon; acrylic on woven and pressed abaca paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James Renwick Alliance and Bernard and Sherley Koteen and museum purchase through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1991.199, © 1989, Lia Cook
Copied Lia Cook, Crazy Too Quilt, 1989, dyed rayon; acrylic on woven and pressed abaca paper, 63 1486 78 in. (160.7220.6 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James Renwick Alliance and Bernard and Sherley Koteen and museum purchase through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1991.199, © 1989, Lia Cook

Artwork Details

Title
Crazy Too Quilt
Artist
Date
1989
Dimensions
63 1486 78 in. (160.7220.6 cm)
Copyright
© 1989, Lia Cook
Credit Line
Gift of the James Renwick Alliance and Bernard and Sherley Koteen and museum purchase through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program
Mediums Description
dyed rayon; acrylic on woven and pressed abaca paper
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract — geometric
Object Number
1991.199

Artwork Description

I wanted to push the boundaries of weaving. What could I make weaving do that no one had done before?
--Lia Cook

In the 1980s, San Francisco Bay Area artist Lia Cook used paint to simulate the look of historical women's work like drapery, crochet, and quilting. Here, Cook was inspired by her great-grandmother's Crazy quilt--a nineteenth-century style that stitched together assorted patterns and textures into elaborate, asymmetrical blankets. Cook explained, "I remember her talking about the different fabrics within it, like my grandfather's top hat. So, I decided to create these imitation Crazy quilts." She painted the appearance of patterned fabric by applying strokes of acrylic paint onto woven abaca paper (a fibrous paper made from banana plant leaf stalks). She then pieced together the swatches into a flashy hybrid quilt-weaving-painting work of art.
The process reveals Cook's wily feminist politics. She flattened and spliced together traditionally feminine domestic techniques with the historically male-dominated modern expressionist painting style, demanding that all forms of art be appreciated.

Exhibitions

Media - 2019.15 - SAAM-2019.15_1 - 137377
Subversive, Skilled, Sublime: Fiber Art by Women
May 31, 2024January 5, 2025
The artists in Subversive, Skilled, Sublime: Fiber Art by Women mastered and subverted the everyday materials of cotton, felt, and wool to create deeply personal artworks.