Carol Eckert - The Wisdom of Swans

Carol Eckert is a contemporary artist widely recognized as an innovator in the fiber field. She studied the ancient technique of coiling, a process linked to Native American traditions of basketry and various functional crafts. She has experimented with ways to use these processes to create sculptural forms out of cotton thread. Eckert explores the iconography of animals in art history through mythology from a variety of cultures. Her unique coiled sculptures of animals are non-functional and metaphorical, inspired by ceremonial vessels, as well as other historical objects and images.

She has 20 artworks in RAM’s permanent collection, where she was featured in a focus exhibition in 2010. Eckert also has works in the collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of American Art’s Renwick Gallery, Washington, DC; Mint Museum of Craft and Design, North Carolina; and the Denver Art Museum.

Eight symmetrical birds arc and pose in The Wisdom of Swans as they perch on an umber-colored tree. These beautifully articulated the birds are mirror images of each other.

This piece has been generously donated by the artist to support exhibition and education programs at RAM.

12 x 13 x 2 inches