Object of the Week: Bundle

Elisabeth Smith on Mar 26 2021

Don’t imitate me; it’s as boring as the two halves of a melon. – Basho, translated by Robert Hass They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Indeed, Tanaka Yu’s ceramic sculptures convincingly appear as vessels wrapped in …

Object of the Week: Untitled #2

Seattle Art Museum on Mar 19 2021

I hope I have made it clear that the work is about perfection as we are aware of it in our minds but that the paintings are very far from being perfect- completely removed in fact- even as we ourselves …

Object of the Week: Reduction

Seattle Art Museum on Mar 12 2021

The most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan devastated the Tohoku (Northeast) region on March 11, 2011. The 9.0-magnitude temblor triggered a tsunami over 100-feet high, which in turn caused a meltdown at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima. Within …

Object of the Week: Rebekah at the Well

Traci Timmons on Mar 5 2021

Rebekah is one of the most prominent women in the Hebrew Bible—a woman, whose act of kindness, decidedly shapes her future: Rebekah went one evening to fill her water-jar at the well. As she was returning, a stranger in charge …

Object of the Week: The Lost Boys

Seattle Art Museum on Feb 26 2021

Artist Andy Warhol said, “Everybody has their own America, and then they have the pieces of a fantasy America that they think is out there, but they can’t see…” Before getting started, it’s important to acknowledge the America that I …

Object of the Week: James Baldwin

Carrie Dedon on Feb 19 2021

Last month, inaugural poet Amanda Gorman captured the country’s attention with the performance of her poem “The Hill We Climb” at the Presidential inauguration, speaking of our country’s fractured history and hopes for its future: “…being American is more than …

Object of the Week: Soul Washer’s Disc

Elisabeth Smith on Jan 22 2021

The intricate radiating pattern of this golden pendant refers not only to the sun, but evokes its warmth and life-giving properties as well. Such discs are known as akrafokonmu, and are prized emblems of Asante leadership, worn by rulers, queen …

Object of the Week: Dancewand for Sango

Pam McClusky on Jan 1 2021

2020 has unleashed epic storms—a pandemic hurricane, tornadoes of lost jobs, and whirlwinds of racism. Meanwhile, in the center of Seattle, a new monument has appeared, offering the vision of a goddess named Oya, who offers to make way for …

Object of the Week: Wintry Sky

Elisabeth Smith on Dec 25 2020

Snow in Seattle on the winter solstice provides a fitting backdrop for this work by Japanese artist Higashibara Hosen. Titled Wintry Sky, it encapsulates the subtle contradictions of the season and serves as a timely reminder that winter is officially …

Object of the Week: Flower Ball

Seattle Art Museum on Dec 18 2020

Almost one year ago, the Seattle Asian Art Museum reopened its landmark building after a three-year restoration and redesign. On the north side of the museum, curators and education staff collaboratively designed the Community Learning Gallery, which includes works from …

Object of the Week: Leaves

Traci Timmons on Dec 11 2020

Gloria Petyarre’s thirteen-foot-long canvas, Leaves, is a work that stops you in your tracks. It invokes the senses: hearing, seeing, and even feeling. The intricate, seemingly endless, white strokes evoke the movement and gentle patterns of leaves on, or fallen …

Object of the Week: Mask for Tengu

Seattle Art Museum on Dec 4 2020

These days, people are wearing masks everywhere you look. Bandanas, medical paper masks, fashionable masks with elaborate designs, face shields—there are many ways to wear our masks while expressing ourselves. Me, I love my mask with sharp teeth on the …

Object of The Week: Coiled Basket

Seattle Art Museum on Nov 26 2020

“The earth is our first teacher.” –Vi Hilbert (1918-2008), Upper Skagit elder, storyteller, and language expert ‘Tis the season of thanks-giving and, as we acknowledge the suffering and bewilderment of our time, we also recognize the importance of gratitude for …

Object of the Week: Willy B

Elisabeth Smith on Nov 20 2020

Like much of 2020, the past few weeks have generated a head-spinning number of events that we’ll someday—and perhaps already—recognize as historic moments. This ceramic work by Akio Takamori, on view in the exhibition Body Language, is inspired by one …

Object of the Week: Map of the World

Carrie Dedon on Nov 6 2020

Brenna Youngblood’s abstract paintings are invariably more layered—literally and figuratively—than first meets the eye. Originally trained as a photographer, Youngblood works with an extensive personal archive of photographs and objects that she collages onto the surfaces of her densely painted …

Object of the Week: Mercedes Benz Coffin

Seattle Art Museum on Oct 9 2020

In the 1970s, carpenter and carver Kane Quaye’s grandmother passed away. It was her lifelong, unfulfilled dream to travel on an airplane. In tribute, Quaye built her a coffin shaped as plane. She was laid to rest inside its upholstered …

Object of the Week: Between Rabbit and Fox

Elisabeth Smith on Oct 2 2020

Acquired last year and newly installed in SAM’s third floor galleries, Jeffrey Gibson’s 2017 painting Between Rabbit and Fox is a commanding and alluring work. Measuring 70 x 50 1/8 inches, the painting’s luminous acrylic and graphite surface, with its …

Object of the Week: Story Scroll

Seattle Art Museum on Sep 25 2020

Red is often associated with strong emotion, and not only anger, despite the name of a common red dye source: madder root. A mid-18th century painting of Ganesh on cloth, from a village in Telangana, in the eastern Deccan plateau …

Object of the Week: Oiling

Traci Timmons on Sep 18 2020

Faig Ahmed is a textile artist and sculptor based in Baku, Azerbaijan, who uses both traditional and modern carpet-making techniques to create something unexpected. His work, Oiling (2012), begins as a traditional wool-knotted Azerbaijani carpet, but then transforms and spills …

Object of the Week: War

Seattle Art Museum on Sep 11 2020

Art has always played a key role in the work of protest and social reform. Artists’ reactions to our current moment, filled with social unrest and calls for social change, echo the works of revolutionary artists working during the Mexican …

Object of the Week: Stele of Chaywet

Pam McClusky on Sep 4 2020

On Labor Day 2020, I cast a vote for one profession to be given special recognition: farmers and food providers. This Egyptian stele in SAM’s collection points out how we eat to thrive, now and into eternity. It also reminds us …

Object of the Week: Mandala: Zone of Zero

Seattle Art Museum on Aug 28 2020

I witnessed 9/11, and was very much shocked and affected by the traumatizing and violent terrorism. This terrorism made me contemplate a lot on dogma of religion and its extreme violence against humanity, and at the same time, on peace for the …
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