Ruth Asawa Untitled (BMC.145, BMC Laundry Stamp) c. 1948–49

  • Not on view

Asawa created this work while she was in charge of the student-run laundry facility at Black Mountain College, an experimental art school in North Carolina. Moving in a pattern of rows and columns, she applied an inked laundry stamp with the college’s initials to a large portion of a bedsheet. Her systematic repetition causes the letters to merge and form a grid much like the warp and weft of a textile. The school encouraged students to mine the possibilities of unorthodox materials and processes, no matter how mundane. The patterns seen here anticipate the repetitive loops in the wire sculptures she would soon begin to make.

Gallery label from "Collection 1940s—1970s", 2019
Medium
Stamped ink on fabric sheeting
Dimensions
sheet (unfolded): 36 3/4 × 45 1/2" (93.3 × 115.6 cm)
Credit
Acquired through the generosity of Joshua and Filipa Fink
Object number
323.2018
Copyright
© Estate of Ruth Asawa.
Department
Drawings and Prints

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