Tiger Lily

1976

American, born 1940

Contrasting gender stereotypes of women—in modern society and religious iconography—collide in this singular ceramic figure. Based on a religious altar used by Warashina’s grandmother, the sculpture subverts the typical Virgin Mary figure we would expect to see on such an object by replacing her with Eve, the biblical temptress who originated humankind’s downfall. The title is a further mash-up of gendered expectations: that of woman as a delicate flower versus a dangerous and seductive tigress.

Low-fire ceramic with acrylic

24 x 15 7/8 x 13 1/4 in. (60.96 x 40.31 x 33.66 cm)

Gift of the artist

89.78

Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Views and Visions in the Pacific Northwest, June 7, 1990 - September 2, 1990.

Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue Art Musuem, Patti Warashina, September 14 - November 3, 1991.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Vistas and Visage, December 16, 1993 – July 17, 1994.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Collection Highlights: 1945 to the Present, September 12, 1996 - June 1, 1997.

Seattle, Washington, Henry Art Gallery, Around the Bend and Over the Edge: Seattle Ceramics 1964-1976, February 11 – May 6, 2012.

Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue Arts Museum, Patti Warashina: Wit and Wisdom, July 12 – October 27, 2013.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Poke in the Eye: Art of the West Coast Counterculture, June 21 - September 2, 2024.

Published ReferencesJohns, Barbara. Modern Art from the Pacific Northwest in the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum. Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1990; no. 24, p. 28.

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