Image

A collage constructed from four rectangular pieces of cloth featuring bright patterned silhouettes of fishes and a blue recumbent man against a patterned block. Two sides are frilled.
View of the other half of the tapestry’s backside. This end features an inverse of the font with silhouettes previously blue, now patterned and vice versa.
View of half of the backside of the tapestry. One edge is frilled. This end features an inverse of the font with silhouettes previously blue, now patterned and vice versa.
Back view of the weaving, except all colors are inverted so that patterned areas are blue and vice versa.
View of the front half of the tapestry. Woven patterns fishes are flanked by fringes and a silhouette of a recumbent man against a pattern.
View of another half of the tapestry. This one is mostly blue leaving one patterned edge with a blue silhouette of a recumbent man’s legs.
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Diedrick Brackens

natal lake
Now On View

Description

Maker

Diedrick Brackens (American, b. 1989)

Title

natal lake

Year

2019

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Dimensions

182.9 x 182.9 cm (72 x 72 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Mary Ann Lippitt Acquisition Fund

Object Number

2020.35

Type

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Art and Design from 1900 to Now
Jun 04, 2022 – Sep 01, 2026

Label copy

A boy lounges above a blue lake harboring five catfish. The negative space surrounding the figure mimics the color palette of the fish, and vice-versa, as if the boy is ascending from the water. Brackens’s work is heavily related to his hometown of Mexia, Texas. There crowds of thousands gathered every year to celebrate Juneteenth, but during festivities in 1981 a tragedy took place when three Black boys lost their lives on Lake Mexia while in police custody. The officers involved walked away with zero penalties. Bracken often refers back to this event in his work, frequently accompanied by the motif of catfish as homage to his Southern roots.

-Natiana Fonseca, RISD BFA 2023, Textiles

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Tombstone

Diedrick Brackens (American, b. 1989)
natal lake, 2019
Handwoven cotton double-weave
182.9 x 182.9 cm (72 x 72 inches)
Mary Ann Lippitt Acquisition Fund 2020.35

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