Love, Dad

David Chatt, Love, Dad, 2012-2013, glass beads, thread, wooden table, letters, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Kenneth R. Trapp Acquisition Fund, 2021.18.1, © 2022, David Chatt
David Chatt, Love, Dad, 2012-2013, glass beads, thread, wooden table, letters, overall: 47 12 × 16 12 × 16 12 in. (120.7 × 41.9 × 41.9 cm) table: 37 3416 1216 12 in. letters: 10 1814 1414 14 in. key: 2 78112 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Kenneth R. Trapp Acquisition Fund, 2021.18.1, © 2022, David Chatt

Artwork Details

Title
Love, Dad
Artist
Date
2012-2013
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
overall: 47 12 × 16 12 × 16 12 in. (120.7 × 41.9 × 41.9 cm) table: 37 3416 1216 12 in. letters: 10 1814 1414 14 in. key: 2 78112 in.
Copyright
© 2022, David Chatt
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Kenneth R. Trapp Acquisition Fund
Mediums Description
glass beads, thread, wooden table, letters
Subjects
  • Allegory — passion — love
  • Object — written matter — letter
Object Number
2021.18.1

Artwork Description

David Chatt has specialized in labor intensive beadwork for more than thirty years. His father, Orville, was also an accomplished modernist jeweler and introduced Chatt to beadwork. Chatt developed his own technique for beading, a modified right-angle weave that uses a single needle and allows him to build in three dimensions. Following the death of his father, Chatt meticulously encased, with white beads, thirty years of their correspondence.


Chatt’s reflection on his father and Love, Dad:


My father was typical of many men; friendly but not intimate, familiar but not known. I loved him but struggle still to understand the distance he kept. That said, my father did not let a week pass without sending me a hand written, newsy and advice-laden letter. Even with the emphasis on advice, I loved getting these missives and in 1980 I began saving them. When he passed, I found myself with a collection, now complete, which spanned thirty years. I had imagined myself going back and re-reading them after his death. When the anticipated time arrived, the box that housed them loomed large in its place in my home. I thought of delving into its contents but could not bring myself to do it. I have known grief and do not fear it, but I am also my father’s son. While I am willing to engage, I do not invite sadness, and reading about a world where a father and mother shared a home and offered updates and council to a young son as he experienced the first throws of independence seemed impossibly sad. Instead, I spent a year laboring to create a place for these letters. I recognize the importance of what they represent but I am making the choice to contain them and to place them in an environment where they can be seen but not shared. As I began this work, I thought of this image as a metaphor for my father and his illusive nature. As I completed it, I understood that this effort is as much a symbol of how I deal with my feelings as for how my father dealt with his. Love, Dad is about a father and son who loved each other, each in their own sincere and flawed way.


This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World, 2022

Works by this artist (1 item)

Duane Hanson, Woman Eating, 1971, polyester resin and fiberglass with oil and acrylic paints and found accessories, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2005.22A-Z
Woman Eating
Date1971
polyester resin and fiberglass with oil and acrylic paints and found accessories
Not on view

Exhibitions

Quilt featuring the portrait of a woman
This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World
May 13, 2022April 2, 2023
This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World showcases the dynamic landscape of American craft today.

More Artworks from the Collection

Claire Falkenstein, City is Man, 1941-1952, linocut, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.14, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
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Date1941-1952
linocut
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Claire Falkenstein, Untitled, 1976, embossed paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.18, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
Untitled
Date1976
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Claire Falkenstein, Mandala, 1977, lithograph, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Falkenstein Foundation, 2019.27.19, ©1997, The Falkenstein Foundation
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Nathan Oliveira, Site with Blue and White, 1978, monotype, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Moses Lasky, 2004.32.14
Site with Blue and White
Date1978
monotype
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