Lungs

Kit Paulson, Lungs, 2020, glass, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Kenneth R. Trapp Acquisition Fund, 2021.22, © 2020, Kit Paulson
Kit Paulson, Lungs, 2020, glass, 12 34 × 9 12 × 3 38 in. (32.4 × 24.1 × 8.6 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Kenneth R. Trapp Acquisition Fund, 2021.22, © 2020, Kit Paulson

Artwork Details

Title
Lungs
Artist
Date
2020
Dimensions
12 34 × 9 12 × 3 38 in. (32.4 × 24.1 × 8.6 cm)
Copyright
© 2020, Kit Paulson
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Kenneth R. Trapp Acquisition Fund
Mediums
Mediums Description
glass
Object Number
2021.22

Artwork Description

Kit Paulson shapes thin strands of heat-resistant glass with a torch to create intricate sculptures. Lungs draws comparison to the structuring of veins and lacework. The artist transformed the alveoli, the tiny air sacs on the lungs, into flowers. Paulson finished this work just weeks before the pandemic of COVID-19, a disease that causes numerous complications in the lungs.


This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World, 2022


Verbal Description

This delicate glass sculpture forms the shape of the human respiratory system. The lungs are a foot tall and nine inches wide with a depth of approximately four inches. The windpipe, which extends upward from the center of the sculpture, is a fleshy pink tube with a ribbed texture. At center, the windpipe splits into two thinner bronchial tubes that mirror each other, forming a wide wishbone shape. From each of these smaller tubes sprout numerous thin, colorless glass branches, which in turn sprout others. This creates a radiating network of stems and tiny buds that mimics the overall shape of a pair of lungs. Enclosed within this network are bouquets of tiny delicate glass flowers that blossom from the bronchial tubes like alveoli. The foundational bright pink windpipe and bronchial tubes stand out through the maze of clear glass. 

Works by this artist (10 items)

Carrie Mae Weems, Lincoln, Lonnie, and Me - A Story in 5 Parts, 2012, video installation and mixed media, color, sound; 18:29 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the American Women's History Initiative Acquisitions Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative, 2023.9A-G, © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
Lincoln, Lonnie, and Me — A Story in 5 Parts
Date2012
video installation and mixed media, color, sound; 18:29 minutes
Not on view
Carrie Mae Weems, Suspended Belief, from the series Constructing History, 2008, archival pigment print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2022.48.5, © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
Suspended Belief, from the series Constructing History
Date2008
archival pigment print
Not on view
Carrie Mae Weems, A Woman Observes, from the series Constructing History, 2008, archival pigment print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2022.48.1, © Carrie Mae Weems. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
A Woman Observes, from the series Constructing History
Date2008
archival pigment print
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

Salvatore Mancini, Narragansett Electric, 2000, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Joseph A. Chazan, M.D., 2002.80.8
Narragansett Electric
Date2000
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Salvatore Mancini, Remains of Lock, Millville, 2000, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Joseph A. Chazan, M.D., 2002.80.6
Remains of Lock, Millville
Date2000
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Keisha Scarville, Chair, 2001, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Perkins Center for the Arts, 2002.17, © 2001, Keisha Scarville
Chair
Date2001
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Salvatore Mancini, Eel Fisherman, 2000, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Joseph A. Chazan, M.D., 2002.80.2
Eel Fisherman
Date2000
gelatin silver print
Not on view