Facing the Unexpected

Copied Polly Adams Sutton, Facing the Unexpected, 2013, western red cedar bark, ash, spruce root, and coated copper wire, basket 1: 6 1414 5812 38 in. basket 2: 7 x 11 789 14 in. basket 3: 7 3812 788 58 in. basket 4: 5 7810 128 34 in. basket 5: 4 387 127 58 in. basket 6: 4 386 145 14 in. basket 7: 4 385 385 18 in. basket 8: 3 3454 14 in. basket 9: 4 x 4 124 58 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mary Anne Fray and museum purchase through the Decorative Arts and Crafts Endowment, 2021.52A-I, © Polly Adams Sutton. Photo by Tom Grotta, courtesy of browngrotta arts

Artwork Details

Title
Facing the Unexpected
Date
2013
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
basket 1: 6 1414 5812 38 in. basket 2: 7 x 11 789 14 in. basket 3: 7 3812 788 58 in. basket 4: 5 7810 128 34 in. basket 5: 4 387 127 58 in. basket 6: 4 386 145 14 in. basket 7: 4 385 385 18 in. basket 8: 3 3454 14 in. basket 9: 4 x 4 124 58 in.
Copyright
© Polly Adams Sutton. Photo by Tom Grotta, courtesy of browngrotta arts
Credit Line
Gift of Mary Anne Fray and museum purchase through the Decorative Arts and Crafts Endowment
Mediums Description
western red cedar bark, ash, spruce root, and coated copper wire
Classifications
Keywords
  • Object — other — basket
Object Number
2021.52A-I

Artwork Description

Facing the Unexpected features several baskets woven and slumped together to form one voluminous support system. Polly Adams Sutton arduously strips cedar bark from the logged forests of the Pacific Northwest, and then she weaves to her own rhythm as she goes. “There is no preconceived notion as to the purpose of my sculptural shapes, except perhaps a quest for pleasing curvilinear forms,” she explains. Relieved of their use, the baskets suggest the same ephemeral nature of abandoned nests.


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This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World showcases the dynamic landscape of American craft today.