Borne by the River
Composed of antique and kimono fabric with gold leaf, Borne by the River is a compelling example of Sanford Biggers’s work in the medium of quilt-making, one with which he began working in 2009 to explore social, political, and economic issues and the larger historical circumstances that bore them. "[Quilts are] portals, in a sense," he once observed. "I consider them between painting, drawing and sculpture, and a repository of memory—the memory of the body." Much of his work in quilt-making engages the (disputed) theory that people along the Underground Railroad shared crucial information in codes embedded in quilts hanging at safe houses and other way points.
Artwork Details
- Title: Borne by the River
- Artist: Sanford Biggers (American, born Los Angeles, California, 1970)
- Date: 2017
- Medium: Antique quilt, quilt fragments, kimono fabric, gold leaf
- Dimensions: 79 × 71 in. (200.7 × 180.3 cm)
- Classification: Textiles
- Credit Line: Gift of Amy and Alex Rotter, 2020
- Object Number: 2020.284
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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