With You in a Moment

Thomas Loeser, With You in a Moment, 2016, honey locust, ash, shovel and lawn mower handles, 120 × 35 × 21 in. (304.8 × 88.9 × 53.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 2021.58

Artwork Details

Title
With You in a Moment
Date
2016
Dimensions
120 × 35 × 21 in. (304.8 × 88.9 × 53.3 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of the artist
Mediums Description
honey locust, ash, shovel and lawn mower handles
Classifications
Subjects
  • Object — furniture
Object Number
2021.58

Artwork Description

“If the furniture we sit on every day were totally different, would our lives be different, too?” wonders furniture maker Tom Loeser.

The natural edge of this honey locust timber slab pays homage to George Nakashima’s iconic Conoid bench, a design introduced in 1960. When Loeser was young, he sat on a Conoid bench at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and in that moment realized the power of furniture.

A row of discarded shovel handles forms the back of Loeser’s bench. Every spring in Madison, Wisconsin—where the artist lives—people throw out their broken shovels, a sign as sure as spring blossoms that another harsh winter has passed. Loeser collected the discarded tools and repurposed them. While shoveling snow can cause back pain, these shovel handles now lend their support.

Works by this artist (1 item)

A. Kinder or Rinder, Drawing on Door, 1887, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Laura Dreyfus Barney and Natalie Clifford Barney in memory of their mother, Alice Pike Barney, 1952.13.82
Drawing on Door
Date1887
oil on canvas
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

William Holbrook Beard, The Runaway Match, 1877, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1977.55
The Runaway Match
Date1877
oil on canvas
Not on view
John Henry Twachtman, Figure in Sunlight (Artist's Wife), ca. 1890-1900, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly, 1929.6.137
Figure in Sunlight (Artist’s Wife)
Dateca. 1890-1900
oil on canvas
On view
Unidentified (Italian), Saint, 19th century, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Laura Dreyfus Barney and Natalie Clifford Barney in memory of their mother, Alice Pike Barney, 1952.13.157
Saint
Artist
Unidentified (Italian)
Date19th century
oil on canvas
Not on view