Yes We Can
Title: Yes We Can
Artist: Merryll Saylan
Nationality: US
Date: 2017
Materials: Recycled book shelf material (cherry, rosewood)
Dimensions: 24 x 5 ¾ x 4
Price: $2,100
Read More
Object Number: 2017.MS.01
Artist Statement:
I first saw mangle boards on a trip to Scandinavia. I knew about mangles/pressers from my grandfather’s tailoring shop but those have rollers that cloth runs between. The wooden boards hanging in homes first caught my eye because they were painted in a style, Rosemaling, which reminded me of Tole painting from the 1950s. Though these two boards are not painted in that style, their reference to cloth, to family life, happiness and marriage, works well with carving patterns I have used in my work.
The election affected me in surprising ways of anxiety, a need to resist and a desire to escape.
Yes We Can, using carved patterns and words, is that we will survive 2017.