{"id":483155,"date":"2026-05-13T20:27:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T20:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/483155\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T20:27:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T20:27:18","slug":"ornamental-carpets-release-wild-animals-in-debbie-lawsons-provocative-sculptures-colossal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/483155\/","title":{"rendered":"Ornamental Carpets Release Wild Animals in Debbie Lawson’s Provocative Sculptures \u2014 Colossal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Debbie Lawson<\/a> is known for her large-scale sculptures of life-size animals<\/a> cloaked in ornamental carpets. Starting with an armature of wire mesh, masking tape, and Jesmonite resin, she meticulously cuts and tucks Persian carpet around every limb, building a surface that looks unbroken. As if the animals have materialized from within the textiles and are temporarily frozen in a stage of metamorphosis, we encounter them on the verge of making a move.<\/p>\n

In the artist\u2019s solo exhibition, In a Cowslip\u2019s Bell I Lie at Sargent\u2019s Daughters<\/a>, she provokes \u201cquestions about the relationships between decoration and nature, craft and camouflage,\u201d the gallery says. The title is a line from Shakespeare\u2019s The Tempest<\/a>, when the spirit Ariel sings about freedom and the carefree, even charmed connection to nature following his release from forced servitude to the sorcerer Prospero. Several of the works seen here, including \u201cWild Dog Sundown,\u201d \u201cRed Eagle,\u201d and \u201cBlack Cougar,\u201d are included in the show.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cWild Dog Sundown\u201d (2025), carpet and mixed media, 92 1\/2 x 61 3\/4 x 24 3\/4 inches<\/p>\n

Lawson draws on the lineage of nature motifs in art, especially wildlife. She alludes to \u201cthe natural and animal forms hidden within decorative forms and patterns, from the frescoes of Pompeii to French Rococo moldings to Venetian stone carvings\u2014the designs of William Morris and even the New York Public Library\u2019s lions,\u201d says a statement. Think clawfoot tubs, heraldic animals carved into hearths and other decorative interior elements, and the more modern form-meets-function works of Les Lalannes<\/a>, which often incorporate birds and mammals into designs for benches and lamps.<\/p>\n

The dialogue between art and decor parallels inherent tensions between interiors and the outside world\u2014refinement and domesticity versus nature or indeed, the wilderness. Lawson also thinks about the gendered history of home life and craft, which has long been been associated with \u201cwomen\u2019s work.\u201d This is deeply personal for the artist, as textile- and art-making go back generations in both her family and her hometown of Dundee, Scotland. She says, \u201cI\u2019m also thinking about women, including some of my near ancestors, so often confined by the constraints of the patriarchal society in which they\/we lived, trapped in the daily grind and unable to pursue their own considerable creative talents or fully inhabit the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawson\u2019s camouflaged animals manifest from the backgrounds of carpets, emphasizing emergence itself. As these wild animals\u2014leopards, cougars, bears, and more\u2014are more clearly defined, they don\u2019t break free from their patterns. Rather, they are indelibly characterized by the textile and can be clearly recognized for their unique individual traits. It\u2019s not unlike how craft, especially textiles<\/a> that were historically relegated to domestic settings and considered at least a notch or two below \u201chigh art,\u201d has intently disrupted the art canon in recent decades.<\/p>\n

In a Cowslip\u2019s Bell I Lie continues through May 30 in New York. See more on Lawson\u2019s Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cRed Eagle\u201d (2026), carpet, steel, and mixed media, 116 1\/8 x 78 3\/4 x 21 5\/8 inches<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cArabian Leopard\u201d (2024), carpet and mixed media, 63 x 90 1\/2 x 13 3\/4 inches<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cBlack Cougar\u201d (2025), carpet and mixed media, 70 7\/8 x 29 1\/8 x 13 3\/8 inches<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cProspero\u201d (2026), carpet and mixed media, 52 x 19 3\/4 x 18 1\/2 inches<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cAlligator\u201d (2025), carpet and mixed media, 30 x 43 x 16 inches<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>Detail of \u201cAlligator\u201d<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cRed Cougar\u201d (2025), carpet, table, and mixed media, 90 1\/2 x 63 x 31 7\/8 inches<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>\u201cGold Cougar\u201d (2026), carpet and mixed media, 70 7\/8 x 28 3\/4 x 9 1\/2 inches<\/p>\n

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