Ledger: Predator and Prey

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Ledger: Predator and Prey

Artist Marie Watt (Native American (Seneca), born 1967)

Date2015

Dimensions19 × 14 in. (48.3 × 35.6 cm)

MediumReclaimed wool blanket, satin binding, thread and embroidery floss

ClassificationTextiles and Fiber

Credit LinePurchased with funds given by Dr. Loren Lipson

Object number

2018.42

Not on View

DescriptionJuxtaposed embroidered image of a bomber jet with a bird in flight

Label Text"My work explores human stories and rituals implicit in everyday objects. I consciously draw from indigenous design principles, oral traditions, and personal experience to shape the inner logic of the work I make.” Ledger: Predator and Prey is a small but powerful example of Marie Watt’s work with blankets. For Watt, blankets are rich in symbolic meaning. As objects, they offer us comfort and protection throughout life, from cradle to grave. As cultural artifacts, blankets bear the mark of the place and time in which they were made. It is appropriate, then, that many cultures, including the Seneca Nation into which Watt was born, have used blankets as a way to pass down traditions. Watt uses small-scale embroidered work to experiment with ideas in process. Here, the iconography is intentionally jarring, juxtaposing embroidered images of a U.S. Predator drone and an eagle in flight. Watt treats the subject with delicate embroidery and pastel-colored fabric, an incongruous combination that contributes to the sense of unease. The work powerfully contrasts old with new, technology with nature and draws out larger questions about power and the ancient theme of predator and prey.