Lucas/Rug, 1993
silk with linen warp
79 x 66 inches
edition of 20


Close spent four years prototyping Lucas/Rug.  Each hand-knotted rug takes six months to weave.  It is at once an extremely beautiful, rich, colored silk rug, and a logical extension of his work:  the slow, painstaking accretion of color to create an image. While silk can't literally be built up layer upon layer, like paint, Close has had small lozenges color of woven next to each other, different colored silks blended within those small areas, as if blue overlaid lavender and a spot of brilliant red shone on top.  From some angles the piece seems pure abstract color.  From other angles, the image is clearly one that Close has used over and over in his work: a portrait of the artist Lucas Samaras. 

detail

Self Portrait/Tapestry, 1993
silk
49 x 37 inches
edition of 150 of which only 100 are for sale

Self Portrait verso

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