Artist Brings the Rainbow Indoors Using 60 Miles of Thread

As part of the inaugural reopening of the Smithsonian American Art Museum‘s Renwick Gallery, Gabriel Dawe creates ‘Plexus A1, one of a series of similar large-scale installations, as part of the museum’s immersive art exhibitions ‘Wonder.’ The Texas-based Mexican artist used a whopping 60 miles of vividly colored thread to create an expansive artwork involving different colored threads spanning the range of the rainbow. His childhood memories of the skies above Mexico City and East Texas, his current and past homes, and the presence of embroidery during his upbringing inspires him to center his artwork around weaving. The massive installation took 10 days to complete and 15 shades of polyester thread showcasing the entire spectrum of visible light.