Photo of collection object Untitled #750 (Bird Wedding Cake)
Coyne, Petah. Untitled #750 (Bird Wedding Cake), 1993. Wax, wire mesh, steel, metal chain, artificial flowers (silk?), artificial birds, white fabric (satin?), overall: 38 x 32 x 32 in., 260 lb. (96.5 x 81.3 x 81.3 cm, 117.9kg). Gift of the Rothfeld Family Collection in memory of Harriet Weill Rothfeld and Designated Purchase Fund, 2008.17.2. © Petah Coyne, Courtesy Galerie Lelong, New York © artist or artist's estate.

Untitled #750 (Bird Wedding Cake)

1993

Petah Coyne

American, born 1953

Contemporary Art

Petah Coyne’s early work incorporated decaying materials—fish, logs, roots, and hay—into sculptures that plumbed extremes of fantasy and the macabre, interiors and the outdoors, joy and alienation. By 1993, Coyne adapted her materials to ensure her work’s longevity and to draw from her family’s Irish Catholic traditions, as reflected in the artificial flowers and birds, white satin, and up to 150 layers of candle wax in Untitled #750 (Bird Wedding Cake). Seemingly fragile in its creation and hanging display, the work is weighted by its materials and metaphors, which allude to the deceptive fantasies of femininity and marriage seen from the vantage point of white American girlhood.
Maker/Artist
Coyne, Petah
Classification
Sculpture
Formatted Medium
Wax, wire mesh, steel, metal chain, artificial flowers (silk?), artificial birds, white fabric (satin?)
Dimensions
overall: 38 x 32 x 32 in., 260 lb. (96.5 x 81.3 x 81.3 cm, 117.9kg)
Departments
Contemporary Art
Accession Number
2008.17.2
Credit Line
Gift of the Rothfeld Family Collection in memory of Harriet Weill Rothfeld and Designated Purchase Fund
Rights Statement
© artist or artist's estate
Dominant Colors

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