Accession Number
1993/1.110

Title
Eerie Grotto? Okini

Artist(s)
William T. Wiley

Artist Nationality
American (North American)

Object Creation Date
1982

Medium & Support
woodcut on paper

Dimensions
22 1/16 x 28 1/16 in. (56 x 71.2 cm);28 x 33 15/16 in. (71.1 x 86.2 cm)

Credit Line
Museum Purchase

Label copy
William Wiley's "Eerie Grotto? Okini" is a view of a studio interior strewn with artist's implements as well as strange objects, like the hatchet with red and blue blade. Carefully drawn and brightly colored, this image suggests an impulse to create a harmonious world out of disparate elements, an effort to create rationality from the absurd. Both the subject matter and the careful composition recall this San Francisco artist's background making constructions form objects during the 1970s. This work also attests Wiley's skill as a printmaker: made from twenty-six separate wood blocks, the print is a marvel of perfect registration. Its delicacy of execution pushes the woodcut technique to resemble pen drawing and watercolor.

Primary Object Classification
Print

Collection Area
Modern and Contemporary

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
abstraction
fans (costume accessories)
modern and contemporary art