Skeins

Mariska Karasz, Skeins, ca. 1950, linen, cotton, and wool, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James Renwick Alliance and museum purchase through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1992.117, © 1952, F. Schumacher and Co.
Mariska Karasz, Skeins, ca. 1950, linen, cotton, and wool, 53 1250 14 in. (135.9127.6 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James Renwick Alliance and museum purchase through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1992.117, © 1952, F. Schumacher and Co.

Artwork Details

Title
Skeins
Date
ca. 1950
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
53 1250 14 in. (135.9127.6 cm.)
Copyright
© 1952, F. Schumacher and Co.
Credit Line
Gift of the James Renwick Alliance and museum purchase through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program
Mediums Description
linen, cotton, and wool
Classifications
Subjects
  • Abstract
Object Number
1992.117

Artwork Description

Embroidery is to sewing what poetry is to prose; here the stitches can be made to sing out as words sing in a poem. -- Mariska Karasz

Throughout her life, Mariska Karasz pushed traditional sewing techniques to extremes, creating new stitches and applying existing ones in unusual ways. She started this wall hanging by wrapping different colored yarns around her fingers "for play." She liked how the loops looked and tacked them down to the fabric, varying their scale and position so they appear to fly out toward the viewer from a point far in the distance.

Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery, 2019

Works by this artist (2 items)

Robert Windham, Angel of Death, 1979, catalpa, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. James L. Whitehead and Mr. P. Elliot Ellis, 1980.108.2
Angel of Death
Date1979
catalpa
On view
Robert Windham, Angel of Birth, ca. 1978-1979, catalpa, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mr. James L. Whitehead and Mr. P. Elliot Ellis, 1980.108.1
Angel of Birth
Dateca. 1978-1979
catalpa
On view

Exhibitions

Media - 2016.11 - SAAM-2016.11_6 - 124929
Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery
November 13, 2015March 6, 2022
Connections is the Renwick Gallery’s dynamic ongoing permanent collection presentation, featuring more than 80 objects celebrating craft as a discipline and an approach to living differently in the modern world.

More Artworks from the Collection

James F. Dicke II, Untitled #48, 2009, mixed media on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Marsha Ralls, 2010.19.1, © 2009, James F. Dicke II
Untitled #48
Date2009
mixed media on canvas
On view
Residual Series: Weak Heart, Strong Lungs
Date2018
ink, charcoal, acrylic, spray paint, enamel, oil, metal dust and pine needles on canvas
Not on view
Rae Ferren, The Lily Pool, 2004, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Bran Ferren, 2010.59, © 2004, Rae Ferren
The Lily Pool
Date2004
oil on canvas
On view
Alexis Rockman, Gymnorhamphichthys bogardusae, 2001, oil on wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of William and Maria Spears, 2019.58
Gymnorhamphichthys bogardusae
Date2001
oil on wood
Not on view