Basket

Basket. 2008-2012.
Sweet Grass, Palmetto, and Pine Straw.
10″ x 10″ x 9″.
Courtesy of the Donna and Will Scott.

Antwon Ford has been weaving baskets since the age of four, when he began learning the craft from his grandmother. While Ford works within a 3,000-year-old West African tradition, today he is on the vanguard of contemporary basket-making. Begun in 2009 and completed over the course of two and a half years, this basket is part of the first phase of Ford’s ongoing experiment in sweetgrass weaving, called “Grass in Motion.” Here, Ford introduces a modern twist to the conventional form of the basket’s body. The handle’s graceful spiral offsets the rigid warp and weft of the basket weave. He manipulates the traditional simplicity of the basket, accentuating its clean lines and inviting us to consider the negative space between body and handle. 

Dulce Montoya ‘14