The One

Currently not on view

The One

1985

Rebecca Medel (American, born 1947)

Rebecca Medel’s The One pays homage to minimalist painter Agnes Martin, whose work Medel greatly admires. Functioning as a three-dimensional mandala—an aid to meditation—it is based on the symbolism of the number one, the circle, and the square. (The number one is related to the mystic center, the circle represents heaven, and the square is the symbol for the earth.) Through modulating shifts from dark gray to white on single strands of thread tied into repetitive sheet bends—knots used by sailors—the artist creates a contradictory illusion of a solid sphere of light in the center of the cube—an ordering of the two opposites into a united whole or The One. Considered Medel’s tour de force, The One was exhibited in the 12th International Biennial of Tapestry in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

The One

Date:

1985

Artist:

Rebecca Medel (American, born 1947)

Medium:

Knotted cotton and linen; sized and sewn construction

Dimensions:

7 feet 10 inches × 7 feet × 7 feet 10 inches (238.8 × 213.4 × 238.8 cm)

Classification:

Fiber Art

Credit Line:

Purchased with funds contributed by The Women's Committee and the Craft Show Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Costume and Textiles Revolving Fund, the Leonard and Norma Klorfine Foundation Endowed Fund for Modern and Contemporary Craft, and with funds contributed by anonymous donors, 2008

Accession Number:

2008-103-1a--l

Geography:

Made in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America

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Currently not on view