Flower Silhouette
Object Details
- Artist
- Ira Blount
- Date
- 2008
- Medium
- paper, graphite
- Dimensions
- Frame: 10 1/8 × 12 1/16 × 1 in. (25.7 × 30.7 × 2.5 cm)
- Cite As
- Gift of Ira Blount
- Caption
- A flower surrounded by stems and branches supporting eleven mature leaves is the central focus of this image. Though paper silhouettes were common in the 1800s, artist Kara Walker “revived” the medium in the 1990s in her work’s exploration of Blackness, gender, violence, and sexuality. Both the traditional craft and modern revival of silhouetting may have influenced Ira Blount in making this piece. In this image, Blount subverts the rigid gendered assumptions of the nineteenth century by embracing women’s domestic arts and encouraging others to free themselves from the limitations of labels by experiencing the joy of crafting.
- After moving to Washington, DC following World War II, Ira Blount mastered dozens of artisanal crafts. His love for crafting, learning, and community engagement would endure over the course of his long life and career.
- Accession Number
- 2011.0004.0108
- Type
- papercutting
- See more items in
- Anacostia Community Museum Collection
- Data Source
- Anacostia Community Museum
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Metadata Usage
- CC0
- Record ID
- acm_2011.0004.0108
This media is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Open Access page.
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.