Slow Poetry #1

Chawne Kimber, Slow Poetry #1, 2018, cotton denim, felt cotton thread, and cotton batt, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Fleur S. Bresler, 2023.40.7, © 2019, Chawne M Kimber
Chawne Kimber, Slow Poetry #1, 2018, cotton denim, felt cotton thread, and cotton batt, 47 1⁄8 × 45 3⁄8 in. (119.7 × 115.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Fleur S. Bresler, 2023.40.7, © 2019, Chawne M Kimber

Artwork Details

Title
Slow Poetry #1
Artist
Date
2018
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
47 1⁄8 × 45 3⁄8 in. (119.7 × 115.3 cm)
Copyright
© 2019, Chawne M Kimber
Credit Line
Gift of Fleur S. Bresler
Mediums
Mediums Description
cotton denim, felt cotton thread, and cotton batt
Classifications
Subjects
  • Allegory — passion — love
  • Object — letter
Object Number
2023.40.7
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2023.40.7

Artwork Description

Chawne Kimber
born 1971, Frankfort, KY
resides Lexington, VA

 
Slow Poetry #1
2018
cotton denim, felt cotton thread, and cotton batting

Against blue-jean patchwork and in the form of the 1990s magnetic poetry trend, this quilt offers a series of affirmations that sometimes repeat themselves or generate new affirmations when rearranged. Loose threads hang from the denim, refusing clean resolutions and boundaries.

Chawne Kimber hand-stitched this quilt during long drives to visit her ailing mother in South Carolina, during which she also reflected on the physical and historical landscape of the United States. The denim honors her father’s roots in Alabama, where cotton was once king, and the indigo threads honor her mother’s coastal Carolina heritage. 

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Fleur S. Bresler, 2023.40.7, © 2019, Chawne M. Kimber


We Gather at the Edge: Contemporary Quilts of Black Women Artists, 2025

Works by this artist (626 items)

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Werner Drewes, Central Density, 1973, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1975.116
Central Density
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Date1973
oil on canvas
On view
Werner Drewes, Pointed Brown and Floating Circles, 1933, oil, pen and ink, and pencil on wood panel, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Patricia and Phillip Frost, 1986.92.17
Pointed Brown and Floating Circles
Artist
Date1933
oil, pen and ink, and pencil on wood panel
On view
Werner Drewes, Suspended Forms, woodcut, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1977.21.11
Suspended Forms
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woodcut
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Werner Drewes, Summer Bouquet (no. 242), color woodcut, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1968.9.81
Summer Bouquet (no. 242)
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color woodcut
Not on view

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