X
c
Open Wednesdays 11am–6pm | Reserve tickets now
Contact Calendar Museum Store S
Asheville Art Museum

Asheville Art Museum

North Carolina museum exhibiting 20th century American art

Explore
D

Exhibitions

Collection

Learn

Calendar

Perspective Café

Museum From Home

Museum Store

Blog

About Us

Learn more about current and upcoming exhibitions.

EXPLORE EXHIBITIONS
>
Visit
D

Plan Your Visit

Tours

Perspective Café

Facility Rental

smARTguide

About Asheville

c

Museum Hours:

Open daily 11am–6pm. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Pre-purchased online tickets are encouraged; walk-in tickets are also available.
m

Museum Location:

2 South Pack Square
Asheville, NC 28801
P

Museum Contact:

828.253.3227
[email protected]
Support
D

Membership

Give

Gala

Collectors’ Circle

Volunteer

Careers + Internships

Museum Members receive 12 months of free general admission.
BECOME A MEMBER
>
Become A Member!
Home > Blog > Stowage by Willie Cole
Willie Cole, Stowage, 1997, woodcut on kozo-shi paper, edition 6/16, 49 ⅛ × 95 inches. Museum purchase with funds provided by 2006 Collectors’ Circle with additional funds provided by Ray Griffin & Thom Robinson, Phillip Broughton & David Smith, Nat & Anne Burkhardt, Randy Shull & Hedy Fischer, Joen Goodman, and Susan Turner. 2006.27.65. © Willie Cole.

Work of the Week

Stowage by Willie Cole

February 19, 2020

What is the connection between an ironing board and African American oppression?

“I change the way people see everyday objects the same way advertisers change the way we see the world.”
—Willie Cole

Willie Cole, a contemporary American sculptor, printer, and self-proclaimed “perceptual engineer” has made a career out of transforming the everyday object into the provocative. Cole’s focus is not solely on the object’s intended function, rather the history or narrative behind the individuals who used the object. Whether Cole uses steam irons, bicycles, shoes, or recycled water bottles, the viewer’s perception of a familiar object becomes entirely different and perhaps even enigmatic to their experience/modern existence. The mystery sparks intrigue and guides the viewer to reflection: what is the connection between an iron/ironing board and African American oppression?

You may not make an instant connection between a commercial ironing board and a slave ship, yet Cole successfully erects this symbolism. The four-by-eight-foot image originates from a diagram of a slave ship that Cole found in a childhood schoolbook. Stowage, Cole’s largest print to date, is a woodcut comprised of cut holes in oversized wooden planks, including the printing block and 12 different irons. Cole intended for each face of the irons, which appear to be mask-like, to represent a different tribe along the African coast that might have traveled in the ship itself. The central plank, or ironing board, represents the ship itself. As Asheville Art Museum Learning & Engagement Director Kristi McMillan notes in her assertion of Stowage, irons and ironing boards were important tools for domestic workers before and after Emancipation.

Most notably, Stowage evokes a sense of awareness that domestic objects may have sensitive cultural significance.

—Contributed by Devon Fero, Communications & External Affairs Assistant

^
Back
to top
Asheville Art Museum

Sign up for e-News!

f
t
i

Explore

  • Exhibitions
  • Collection
  • Learn
  • Calendar
  • Store
  • Blog
  • About Us

Visit

  • Plan Your Visit
  • Perspective Café
  • Virtual Visits
  • Venue Rental
  • Accessibility
  • Program & Event Tickets
  • About Asheville
  • Contact

Support

The Asheville Art Museum's vision is to transform lives through art.
  • Membership
  • Give
  • Benefit Events
  • Collectors’ Circle
  • Volunteer
  • Careers
  • Internships

Location & Hours

c

Museum Hours:

Open daily 11am–6pm. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Pre-purchased online tickets are encouraged; walk-in tickets are also available.
m

Museum Location:

2 South Pack Square
Asheville, NC 28801
P

Museum Contact

828.253.3227
[email protected]
© 2025 Asheville Art Museum
For Press
>
Copyright Information
>
Contact
>