Earth and Sky
Object NameTextile Sculpture
Artist / Maker
Priscilla Kepner Sage
(American, b. 1936)
Date1964
MediumCheesecloth, fiber, clay, and dye.
Dimensions70 x 30 x 1/2 in. (177.8 x 76.2 x 1.3 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineGift of the artist and Charles Sage. In the Art on Campus Collection, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
Object numberU2012.360
Status
Not on viewCultureAmerican
Label TextSage’s work in Iowa continues to suggest figuration even as the art delves more deeply into biological abstraction. In works of art like Earth and Sky (1964), she cuts into the flatness – she makes a physical and architectural gesture while at the same time using bones and fabric to create wall reliefs interrupted by negative spaces. The organization of positive and negative spaces seen in Earth and Sky is reminiscent of those in the human form. The tendrils at the bottom of these wall bas reliefs seem like limbs. On the other hand, the tiny, dangling half-moons in the open spaces feel like a flock of birds on a long journey.
MarkingsPK
PeriodMid-Century
Locations
- (not entered) Iowa State University, Brunnier Main Storage
Object Name: Textile Installation
Priscilla Kepner Sage
2007
Object number: U2007.69