The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 8, 2026

A vertically oriented drawing in gouache, a chalky, opaque paint, on cream paper depicts three stacked, symmetrical forms filled with dense chevron patterns. A wide downward-pointing triangle floats above a central spade shape, followed by a broad upward-pointing triangle. Each geometric form contains vibrating, jagged lines of red, light blue, yellow, black, and white, creating a kaleidoscopic, woven texture against an off-white background framed by the paper's serrated, deckled edges.

L'Assomption Sash for Carrying Things That No Longer Exist #10

2025

Andrea Carlson

(American/Ojibwe, b. 1979)
America
gouache on paper
Sheet: 76.2 x 57.1 cm (30 x 22 1/2 in.)
Sundry Art - Miscellaneous Fund 2025.162
© Andrea Carlson
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Andrea Carlson works in Chicago and northern Minnesota today.

Description

This drawing belongs to an ongoing series carried out by Andrea Carlson since 2022. Each sheet presents abstract shapes featuring the arrow pattern and color palette of L’Assomption sashes, hand-braided wool bands used by Ojibwe tribe members to secure tools and other utilitarian objects to the body. The garments were later adopted by French fur traders, and especially by the Métis, a group that emerged at this time as the result of marriage between the Ojibwe and French. For Carlson, L’Assomption sashes symbolize the intersections between Indigenous and Western culture and serve as a means of reflecting on her own heritage.
  • still/emerging: Native American Works on Paper. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 1-June 7, 2026).
  • {{cite web|title=L'Assomption Sash for Carrying Things That No Longer Exist #10|url=false|author=Andrea Carlson|year=2025|access-date=08 July 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2025.162