Object Details
- Artist
- Michael Cummings, born Los Angeles, CA 1945
- Exhibition Label
- This quilt is one in a series of four from acclaimed quilter Michael Cummings inspired by Afro-Caribbean stories of mermaids. In Haitian lore, mermaids are often fierce water spirits. Cummings placed a parrot and fish on either side of the mermaid to signify her power over both land and sea. Atop her head her stitched colorful “locs,” a hairstyle that traces its roots to several ancient African cultures.
- Cummings taught himself to sew in the 1970s. He combines collage and stitching techniques to densely layer materials like antique and hand-dyed fabrics into narrative quilts. “The sewing machine has never given me trouble. I call it my dance partner because it knows all of my moves.”
- Credit Line
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy Dent Goodson
- 1996
- Object number
- 2002.59
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Decorative Arts-Fiber
- Quilt
- Crafts
- Medium
- machine pieced, quilted, and appliquéd commercial and hand-dyed cotton, synthetic and antique fabrics, found objects, sequins, and beads
- Dimensions
- 76 × 78 1/4 × 1 1/8 in. (193.0 × 198.8 × 2.9 cm)
- See more items in
- Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
- Department
- Renwick Gallery
- On View
- Renwick Gallery, 2nd Floor, Room 203
- Renwick Gallery, 2nd Floor
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Topic
- Abstract
- Animal\bird
- Animal\fish
- Waterscape\sea
- Haitian
- Fantasy\mermaid
- Object\flower
- Record ID
- saam_2002.59
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk789012fca-6e5c-401f-bc8d-6d2fd3cc3339
