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Shaw Ruddock GallerySelected Works
Fancy Quilt, 1890–1900, fabric, silk, and velvet, by Esther Emily Leslie. Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Gift of Donald E. Hare ’51 and Anne F. Hare, 2019.38
Àdìrẹ Eleso cloth, ca. 1956, cotton, thread, indigo dye by an unidentified Yorùbá artist. Gift of Dorothy A. Hassfeld made in memory of the Otun Shoun, Chief N.D. Oyerinde, OBE; Bowdoin College Museum of Art, 2014.31.19.
Mini knitting basket, ca. 1950–1960, ash and sweetgrass by an unidentified Penobscot artist. Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Anonymous Gift, 2018.13.35.
untitled, ca. 1948–1954, paper and fabric collage by Anne Ryan, American, 1889–1954. Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Bequest of Hilton and Esta Kramer. 2021.73.108.
The Anthropophagic Effect, Garment no. 3, 2019, mixed media with cotton, brass grommets, nylon thread, artificial sinew, dried pear gourds, glass and plastic beads, nylon ribbon, on canvas by Jeffrey Gibson. Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Museum Purchase, Lloyd O. and Marjorie Strong Coulter Fund, 2021.83
Towards an ominous time I, 2022, handwoven cloth, natural and synthetic fibers by Sarah Zapata. Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Museum Purchase, Laura T. and John H. Halford Jr. Acquisition Fund and the Collectors’ Collaborative, 2022.44
Permanence, 2023, black ash, cedar bark, birch bark, and synthetic dye by Jeremy Frey (Passamaquoddy). 19½ x 11¼ x 11¼ inches (49.53 x 28.57 x 28.57 cm). Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Pending Acquisition. © Jeremy Frey. Courtesy of the artist and Karma.
Pasokos (Sturgeon) Basket, 2023, ash, birch bark, sweetgrass, and commercial dye by Theresa Secord (Penobscot). Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Pending Acquisition. © Theresa Secord. Courtesy of the artist.
About
This exhibition brings together work by contemporary artists who incorporate weaving, sewing, quilting, and fabric to explore ideas about gender, identity, memory, and cross-cultural encounters. The works on view span a variety of mediums, including quilts, basketry, sculpture, tapestry, and painting, allowing their makers to weave powerful and intimate stories about their identities, experiences, and the worlds they inhabit.
The exhibition is supported by the Karl R. Philbrick Art Museum Fund, Bowdoin College.
Read the exhibition labels here.
Programming
Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center, Bowdoin College
November 2, 2023
Theresa Secord is a traditional Penobscot basket maker and the founding director of the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance. She speaks about her new woven series inspired by climate change, including a new piece commissioned by the Museum and included in the exhibition Threads: Artists Weave their Worlds.
Presented by the Bowdoin College Museum of Art.
Recorded on November 2, 2023 at Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine.