Wheat, 1988 10 in. (254 mm) The Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection, 1988. 88.16
Lillian Elliott
For Lillian Elliott, basket-making offers a dramatic shift from her mainstay technique, weaving. With baskets, she can work large and in the round. And unlike the essential nature of weaving, she can work on an entire surface spontaneously and see results quickly.
Early works by the artist were painted black to describe the linear quality of the form. In this work the linear quality is subtle and more complex, but nevertheless very present. It is as though a drawing had been made in space with a number of pencils taped together in a row. These parallel lines are bound together and aligned to encompass the form. They enclose space and still perform the function ascribed to a basket or container. The work has been twined, a process whereby between each rib is fixed in place by twisted weavers.
Elliott lived from 1930 to 1994. She received an M.F.A. from Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and for a time was a fabric designer for the Ford Motor Company.
  
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