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Structured Form

Object Details

Luce Center Label
In Floor Basket, the artist wove just enough of a structure to enclose an empty space. It is an example of Lillian Elliott's desire to create objects that appeared to be drawn in the air. The gestural strands of rattan at the top suggest the organic energy of the materials, as though the fibers were at an unfinished state of weaving themselves into a vessel. After Elliott died of cancer, her collaborator Pat Hickman wove a similar basket, Lost in Translation, to memorialize the creative energy of her friend.
Data Source
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Artist
Lillian Elliott, born Detroit, MI 1930-died Berkeley, CA 1994
Date
about 1988
Credit Line
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Theodore Cohen in memory of his mother and her sisters: Rose Melmon Cohen, Blanche Melmon, Mary Melmon Greenberg and Fanny Melmon Liberman
Medium
rattan, coconut palm midribs, and waxed linen thread
Dimensions
39 x 12 1/2 x 10 in. (99.1 x 31.8 x 25.4 cm)
Type
Decorative Arts
Crafts
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