Artwork Details
- Title
- Shelter Structure
- Artist
- Date
- 1985
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 8 7⁄8 x 11 1⁄2 x 10 3⁄4 in. (22.5 x 29.2 x 27.3 cm)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Theodore Cohen in memory of his mother and her sisters: Rose Melmon Cohen, Blanche Melmon, Mary Melmon Greenberg and Fanny Melmon Liberman
- Mediums Description
- cotton, acrylic paint, pencil, and shellac
- Classifications
- Object Number
- 1998.122.16
Artwork Description
Shelter Structure has two distinct sections: the densely knit bottom and the transparent weblike top. Norma Minkowitz’s loose crocheting allows light to permeate the object, altering its appearance. She used shellac to stiffen the thread so that the otherwise delicate and flimsy material would hold its form. Minkowitz’s hollow works express both shelter and confinement. It is possible to peer inside her vessels through the stitching and to think of them as inviting, protective places, but her knitting also evokes the feeling of being caught inside with no way out.