Lia Cook, Traces: Big Beach Baby, 2001, cotton, 160 x 56 in. (406.4 x 142.2 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the James Renwick Alliance in honor of Kenneth R. Trapp, curator-in-charge of the Renwick Gallery (1995−−2003), 2004.2, © 2001, Lia Cook
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Artwork Details
- Title
- Traces: Big Beach Baby
- Artist
- Date
- 2001
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 160 x 56 in. (406.4 x 142.2 cm)
- Copyright
- © 2001, Lia Cook
- Credit Line
- Gift of the James Renwick Alliance in honor of Kenneth R. Trapp, curator-in-charge of the Renwick Gallery (1995−−2003)
- Mediums Description
- cotton
- Classifications
- Subjects
- Figure — child — bust
- Landscape — beach
- Object Number
- 2004.2
Artwork Description
To create her expressive "woven paintings," Lia Cook paints strips of fabric and weaves them together with a computer-aided handloom. Despite the use of high-tech tools, her figures appear lifelike, emphasizing the connection between the sensuousness of cloth and lived experience. In Traces: Big Beach Baby, Cook also uses fabric to suggest humankind's vulnerability and fragility: as the viewer moves closer to the work, an intimate family portrait dissolves into a dense field of threads.
Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery, 2019