Object Catalog Record

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1 of 1977

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Title

Trick or Treat basket by Kathryn Rousso, 2015

Object #

2016.2.48.1

Object Name

Basket

Date

2015

Artist

Rousso, Kathryn

Description

"Trick or Treat" is a basket woven by Ketchikan artist Kathryn Rousso in 2015. The basket synthesizes Ravenstail and Taaniko (a twining technique of the Maori people of New Zealand) textile weaving styles with the form of Panamanian chacaras (net bags) and traditional Northwest Coast baskets. Materials include RIT commercial dyes, red cedar bark, yellow cedar bark harvested from Prince of Wales Island, and reed, which is commonly used in South American baskets. The basket was woven on the weaver's knees. She called it a "backwards basket" because it was woven from the top-down, using the plant fiber like warp. Traditional Northwest Coast baskets are woven from the bottom to the top.

Around the rim is a band of decoration featuring eight alternating sections of a black Ravenstail pattern, identified as the "trick," and a multi-colored Panamanian snake design depicting the "treat." The Ravenstail pattern is known as "Tail of Raven." At the center of the design is a small enclosed rectangle surrounded by geometric lines and outlined by a rectangle. The Panamanian snake pattern features a fan-shaped design in diagonal rows alternating colors between purple, orange, green, and black. Vertical braids separate the sections around the rim. According to the weaver, the wavy top of the basket was a result of weaving from the top- down. The top section consists of red cedar bark warp and yellow cedar back weft. The lower portion of the basket consists of horizontal rows of reed secured with yellow cedar bark.

For more information about the artist, Kathryn Rousso, see Provenance and the accession file.

Provenance

Kathryn Rousso is a world-renowned fiber artist whose work fuses traditional Northwest Coast styles with techniques learned through her international travels. Kathryn's diverse weaving interests include Ravenstail and Chilkat, Taaniko (a twining technique similar to Ravenstail) of the Maori people of New Zealand, and textiles made of maguey (agave) fiber from Guatemala which she researched during a 2001 Fulbright Scholarship. Since moving to Ketchikan in 1983, Kathryn has studied textile and basket weaving with notable artists Cheryl Samuel, Delores Churchill, Dorica Jackson, and Irene Bienek in the Native Arts Studies Program (NASP) at the Totem Heritage Center where she earned a Certificate of Merit in Northwest Coast basketry and weaving in 1993.

Kathryn was instrumental in the revival of Ravenstail weaving, a technique that was painstakingly rediscovered by Cheryl Samuel. She became a charter member of the Ravenstail Weaver's Guild and helped create the Mother Robe, which was a multi-year collaborative project sponsored by Ketchikan Museums involving 80 weavers throughout Southeast Alaska and the Yukon. In 2015, Kathryn was invited to teach the NASP class "Ravenstail Weaving Project Finishing." Additionally, through exhibits of her work and involvement in the arts community, Kathryn has introduced weaving techniques learned across the globe to Ketchikan. For more on Kathryn's background and accomplishments, please see the autobiographical article, "Exploring a World of Weaving" in the accession file.

Material

Cedar Bark/Reed/Commercial Dyes

Dimensions

H-10 Dia-14 inches

Dimension Details

Diameter is between 14 and 14.5"

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