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In 1942, American artist Stuart Davis (1892-1964) designed Study for Flying Carpet, a gouache inspired by his first travel on an airplane. It is meant to represent the view from the airplane. Davis created the design at the invitation of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which invited 10 contemporary artists to create designs for rugs. Those designs were fabricated and exhibited alongside the original art at a 1942 exhibit at the museum.
To achieve the detail and accuracy that I wanted in Flying Carpet Redux, I used #4-, 5-, and 6-cut felted wool on bleached primitive linen. I love the pink, nonsensical “script” because it was fun to render.
One very challenging part of the process was beginning. I usually start hooking my rugs from the center and work out ward, but the center of this design has several disparate shapes and patterns. It was difficult to determine the center and how elements extended from there. I found my way by using the beige multidirectional “pathway” in the work to designate the inside and outer quadrants of the design.
The rug is bound with 1¼” black twill tape, sewn to the front and then to the back of the rug. This piece showed me that a great work of art has many details that are not immediately apparent and reveal themselves only after repeated observation.
From the Judges:
Excellent color choices that reinforce an interesting abstract design.
Flying Carpet Redux, 44” x 29”, #4- to 6-cut wool on bleached primitive linen. Adapted from a painting by Stuart Davis and hooked by Susan Klim, New York, New York, 2024.
Susan Klim
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Susan has degrees in art history and has retired from her work as a furniture conservator at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. She began rug hooking in 2008, having taught herself with books and a kit from “Martha by Mail,” an old Martha Stew art catalog. She hooks her rugs mostly as gifts for friends and family.