Cut, Flamed, Spalted

Dan Webb, Cut, Flamed, Spalted, 2013, maple, 18 × 37 × 33 in. (45.7 × 94.0 × 83.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Decorative Arts and Crafts Endowment, the Richard T. Evans Fund, and the Renwick Acquisitions Fund, 2015.10, © 2013, Dan Webb

Artwork Details

Title
Cut, Flamed, Spalted
Artist
Date
2013
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
18 × 37 × 33 in. (45.7 × 94.0 × 83.8 cm)
Copyright
© 2013, Dan Webb
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Decorative Arts and Crafts Endowment, the Richard T. Evans Fund, and the Renwick Acquisitions Fund
Mediums Description
maple
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure — fragment — arm
Object Number
2015.10

Artwork Description

Dan Webb consciously integrates medium and process into his emotional narrative. Refined and unfinished textures stress the maker's hand. Spalting, a discoloration in the wood caused by fungus, can be seen in jagged lines across the bicep, while flaming, another grain distortion, shimmers like veins through the tender wrist. These conditions add depth and beauty to the piece, revealing the tree's history while drawing a parallel to the scars of a life lived.

Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery, 2019

Works by this artist (3 items)

Emanuel Martinez, Farm Workers' Altar, 1967, acrylic on mahogany and plywood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the International Bank of Commerce in honor of Antonio R. Sanchez, Sr., 1992.95
Farm Workers’ Altar
Date1967
acrylic on mahogany and plywood
On view
Emanuel Martinez, Tierra o Muerte, 1967, screenprint on manila folder, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1996.8, © 1967, Emanuel Martinez
Tierra o Muerte
Date1967
screenprint on manila folder
Not on view
Emanuel Martinez, Cesar Chavez, n.d., pencil on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Haynes Family, Jorge, Roxanne, Rebecca and Ben, 1998.155
Cesar Chavez
Daten.d.
pencil on paper
Not 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.