In and Out Basket

Elizabeth F. Kinlaw, In and Out Basket, 1991, bulrush, sweetgrass, palmetto fronds, and pine needles, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Martha G. Ware and Steven R. Cole, 2011.47.32A-B
Copied Elizabeth F. Kinlaw, In and Out Basket, 1991, bulrush, sweetgrass, palmetto fronds, and pine needles, 12 1⁄8 x 11 in. diam. (30.8 x 27.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Martha G. Ware and Steven R. Cole, 2011.47.32A-B

Artwork Details

Title
In and Out Basket
Artist
Date
1991
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
12 1⁄8 x 11 in. diam. (30.8 x 27.9 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Martha G. Ware and Steven R. Cole
Mediums
Mediums Description
bulrush, sweetgrass, palmetto fronds, and pine needles
Classifications
Object Number
2011.47.32A-B
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2011.47.32A-B

Artwork Description

Elizabeth Kinlaw began playing with sweetgrass fibers when she was a child and eventually learned Gullah basketry skills from her mother, grandmother, and aunt. Gullah artists have coiled sweetgrass baskets for generations in the lowlands of South Carolina, maintaining techniques from Africa where baskets have been used for fanning (processing) rice and storing food.

For Kinlaw, basketry draws on the memory of her ancestors and the process is intuitive. The accordion shape of this basket came to her while she was weaving the base. She explains, “There is no pattern. You can envision it and you can make it out of your mind.”

This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World, 2022

Related Books

Baskets_500.jpg
A Measure of the Earth
A Measure of the Earth provides an window into the traditional basketry revival of the past fifty years. Nicholas Bell’s essay details the longstanding use of traditional fibers, such as black ash, white oak, willow, and sweetgrass and the perseverance of a select few to harvest these elements—the land itself—for the enrichment of daily life. Drawing on conversations with basketmakers from across the country and reproducing many of their documentary photographs, Bell offers an intimate glimpse of their lifeways, motivations, and hopes. Lavish illustrations of every basket in the exhibition convey the humble, tactile beauty of these functional vessels.