Lillian Wolock Elliott

Not to be confused with Lillian Elliott.
Lillian Wolock Elliott
Born
Lillian Wolock

June 4, 1930
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Died1994(1994-00-00) (aged 63–64)
Berkeley, California, U.S.
Alma materWayne State University,
Cranbrook Academy of Art
Employer(s)Ford Motor Company,
University of California, Berkeley
SpouseH. Roy Elliott
Children2

Lillian Wolock Elliott (June 6, 1930 – April 3, 1994) was an American fiber artist, and textile designer. She is known for her innovative basket craft.[1]

Biography

Lillian Wolock was born in 1930 in Detroit, Michigan, to Polish Jewish immigrants Litman "Leon" Wolock from Włodzimierce and Edith Freedman Wolock from Bereźne (both now in Ukraine).[2] She had three siblings.[3][4] She attended Wayne State University (B.A. degree, 1952), and Cranbrook Academy of Art (M.F.A. degree, 1955).[5][4] After she graduated school, she worked at Ford Motor Company, as a designer from 1955 to 1958.[6][5]

In 1960, she moved to California and became active within the California Craft movement, working initially in woven tapestry and fiber arts. Her work changed in the 1970s and expanded to include experiments with textile and printing on textiles. By 1975, she was practicing basketry with unconventional materials, such as cloth, bark, paper, twine, and zippers.[7][3]

She taught at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1966 to 1971.[7] Her longtime collaborator was artist Pat Hickman [Wikidata], who started as her student.[6][8]

Death and legacy

In 1985, Elliott was awarded the designation as one of 20 "Living Treasures of California" by the Crocker Art Museum and the Creative Arts League. She was elected as a fellow of American Craft Council in 1992.[9][3] Elliott died of cancer in 1994 in Berkeley, California.[1][7][5]

Elliott has work in public museum collections including Smithsonian American Art Museum,[5][3] the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco,[10] Rhode Island School of Design Museum,[3][11] and the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b "Lillian Elliot". Detroit Free Press. April 7, 1994. p. 14. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  2. ^ Michigan, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1887–1931
  3. ^ a b c d e Heller, Jules; Heller, Nancy G. (2013-12-19). "Elliott, Lillian (1930–1994)". North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary. Routledge. p. 172. ISBN 978-1-135-63882-5.
  4. ^ a b Moore, Alvin Doyle (1961). American Crafts New Talent 1963: Festival of Contemporary Art, University of Illinois, Urbana. Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. pp. 1951, 1962.
  5. ^ a b c d Held, Peter; Lineberry, Heather Sealy (2013-11-22). Crafting a Continuum: Rethinking Contemporary Craft. UNC Press Books. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-4696-1281-2.
  6. ^ a b "Lillian Elliott". The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  7. ^ a b c "Lillian Elliott". Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM). Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  8. ^ Koplos, Janet; Metcalf, Bruce (2010-07-31). Makers: A History of American Studio Craft. University of North Carolina Press. p. 432. ISBN 978-0-8078-9583-2.
  9. ^ "College of Fellows". American Craft Council. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  10. ^ "Lillian Elliot". FAMSF Search the Collections. 2018-09-21. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  11. ^ "Ribbons Cascading". RISD Museum. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  12. ^ "About". San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles. Retrieved 2021-08-25.