Artwork Details
- Title
- Red Lightning Fountain
- Artist
- Date
- 1983
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 8 5⁄8 x 23 x 5 5⁄8 in. (21.8 x 58.3 x 14.2 cm)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Eleanor T. and Samuel J. Rosenfeld
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- knotted and twined waxed linen
- Classifications
- Object Number
- 2002.8.5
Artwork Description
Ferne Jacobs creates most of her woven baskets from a waxed linen thread that comes from Northern Ireland. Each basket takes several weeks to complete as she painstakingly coils, twists, and knots the fine thread. In Red Lightning Fountain the woven surface appears soft and pliable, but the vessel is rigid enough to stand alone. On the end of the straps, Jacobs applied the Hebrew letters Aleph (the beginning) and Tav (the end) to symbolize the beginning and end of all things. The jagged lines of the straps together with the basket's vibrant color evoke a dramatic explosion, suggesting the creation and destruction of life.