Labyrinth of Communication
On View In:
Gallery 276
Artist:   Sheila Hicks  
Title:   Labyrinth of Communication  
Date:   1990-1991  
Medium:   Linen, silk, wool, cotton, metallic thread; wrapped  
Dimensions:   59 x 59 x 5 1/2 in. (149.86 x 149.86 x 13.97 cm)  
Credit Line:   Gift made possible by Sheila Hicks and Target Corporation  
Location:   Gallery 276  

The round form of Sheila Hicks’ Labyrinth of Communication evolved from her interests in moving away from the rectangular format usually associated with tapestry. Like church labyrinths, Hicks’ tapestry bas-relief blurs boundaries between art, design, and architecture. It is part of a series that began with a circular work made for AT&T's headquarter building (Basking Ridge, New Jersey, which she considered a communications disk with spin offs and circuitry springing out into space. The title of this work comes from Hicks’ feeling that it is “acrobatic and labyrinthian” to communicate ideas and feelings. Reflecting on Labyrinth of Communication, Hicks wrote, ”There is a powerful centering composition but the visual voyage is complex and fanciful. The spiritual exercise of CENTERING and focus is capital in all religious practices. This tapestry bas-relief was made entirely by hand with a repetitive wrapping technique resembling the recitation of the prayer rosary or Tibetan prayers, or Muslim prayer beads, or Hebrew prayer shawls.”

Artist/Creator(s)     
Name:   Hicks, Sheila  
Nationality:   American  
Life Dates:   American, born 1934  
 

Object Description  
  
Inscriptions:    
Classification:   Textiles  
Physical Description:   wood circular background (support frame) covered with 100% unbleached natural linen fabric visible in some areas; long cords wrapped with yarn and sewn in rows to the background; cord ends are free, some are interlaced; several hanks of linen and skeins twisted; colors are natural, ecru, orange, dark red, purple, brown, yellow, light blues, ochre, variegated (purple, red, brown)  
Creation Place:   Europe, France, , ,  
Accession #:   2003.224  
Owner:   The Minneapolis Institute of Arts