Name/Title
PrivateEntry/Object ID
2025.06.01Description
Wooden box covered in scraps of fabric stapled together and covered in wax.Artwork Details
Medium
Oil, wax, Staples, canvas on woodContext
Lawrence Carroll (1954–2019) was an Australian-born American artist whose practice challenged conventional definitions of painting. Blurring the boundaries between painting and sculpture, Carroll became known for works that function more as painted constructions or physical objects than traditional two-dimensional canvases. His surfaces, often appearing at first glance to be minimal or monochromatic, slowly reveal intricate layers of material, subtle tonal shifts, and evidence of wear, repair, and reworking.
Carroll’s distinctive “aesthetic of scraps” emerged through his use of humble, everyday materials—such as cardboard, wood, cloth, wax, and remnants salvaged from his studios across the globe. These elements, imbued with personal history and physical labor, lend his works a quiet intensity and contemplative presence. The fractured surfaces, patched seams, and irregular edges convey a sense of vulnerability and endurance, making visible the passage of time and the artist’s hand. Through this restrained yet deeply expressive vocabulary, Carroll constructed poetic meditations on impermanence, memory, and the physical life of objects. The New York Times described his works as “…poetically gloomy, dirty white, boxy, irregular paintings that verge on sculpture. Glued, patched, stapled and otherwise cobbled together, they look as if they had been abandoned for years in some funky basement.”Acquisition
Accession
2025.06Source or Donor
Robert Mollers, Nancy MollersAcquisition Method
GiftCredit Line
Gift of Robert and Nancy MollersLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Primary Object Term
SculptureNomenclature Class
ArtNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsLOC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials
Recycling, RepairDimensions
Height
15 inWidth
8 inDepth
15 in