Run, Jane, Run!

Media - 2021.51 - SAAM-2021.51_1 - 143158
Copied Consuelo Jimenez Underwood, Run, Jane, Run!, 2004, woven cotton, linen, barbed wire, caution tape, overall: 120 in. × 67 58 in. (304.8 × 171.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by the Alturas Foundation, 2021.51, © 2004, Consuelo J. Underwood

Artwork Details

Title
Run, Jane, Run!
Date
2004
Dimensions
overall: 120 in. × 67 58 in. (304.8 × 171.8 cm)
Copyright
© 2004, Consuelo J. Underwood
Credit Line
Museum purchase made possible by the Alturas Foundation
Mediums Description
woven cotton, linen, barbed wire, caution tape
Classifications
Keywords
  • Figure group
Object Number
2021.51

Artwork Description

Fiber artist Consuelo Jimenez Underwood has made weavings about immigration at the US-Mexico border for much of her career. Her father was an undocumented field worker in California, and her family regularly crossed the border. In the early 1990s, while driving along the 405 Freeway in San Diego, Jimenez Underwood became distraught at the sight of an “Immigrant Crossing” sign of parents running with a small child. She began depicting this motif threaded with barbed wire, caution tape, and yellow cotton into many of her weavings. This tapestry pays homage to the families killed on the highway and emphasizes their humanity. The title, Run, Jane, Run!, references the Dick and Jane reading primers for young children. 


This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World, 2022

Gallery Label
In the early 1990s, while driving along the 405 Freeway in San Diego, Consuelo Jimenez Underwood became distraught at the sight of an "Immigrant Crossing" sign of parents running with a small child. She identified with the little girl and was shocked at how easily a group of people could be dehumanized. She began depicting this motif threaded with barbed wire, caution tape, and yellow cotton in many of her weavings. The tapestry pays homage to the families killed on the highway and reinforces their humanity. The title, Run, Jane, Run!, references the Dick and Jane reading primers for young children.

Jimenez Underwood has made weavings about immigration at the US-Mexico border for much of her career. Her father was an undocumented field worker in California, and her family regularly crossed the border. She says she wove this tapestry from "the gaze of the Indigenous woman of long ago."

Exhibitions

Quilt featuring the portrait of a woman
This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World
May 13, 2022April 2, 2023
This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World showcases the dynamic landscape of American craft today.