Rug: Sleeping or swimming

---

Artist: Susan Clark

Title: Rug: Sleeping or swimming

Attribution: "Rug: Sleeping or swimming," 2025, Susan M. Clark

Year: 2025

Materials: Traditional rug hand punching using slim hand cut strips of fabric, not tufted using a machine. The fabric used in this rug is recycled, and I made every attempt to use only recycled wool. The backing is burlap.

Dimensions: 47.25 inches by 80 inches by .5 inch

Image Statement: The colourful, graphic background of this rug emulates the pattern and colour found in middle eastern encaustic tiles, which could be the cold, stone-like base of a pool or floor but instead is rendered in soft tufts of recycled wool and silk. The fish could be swimming, or tattoos on a sleeping or swimming body. The artist uses strips cut from discarded wool garments, some of which are over dyed, and hand punches them using a tool invented over a century ago.