Facing the Unexpected

Polly Adams Sutton, Facing the Unexpected, 2013, western red cedar bark, ash, spruce root, and coated copper wire, basket 1: 6 1⁄4 x 14 5⁄8 x 12 3⁄8 in. basket 2: 7 x 11 7⁄8 x 9 1⁄4 in. basket 3: 7 3⁄8 x 12 7⁄8 x 8 5⁄8 in. basket 4: 5 7⁄8 x 10 1⁄2 x 8 3⁄4 in. basket 5: 4 3⁄8 x 7 1⁄2 x 7 5⁄8 in. basket 6: 4 3⁄8 x 6 1⁄4 x 5 1⁄4 in. basket 7: 4 3⁄8 x 5 3⁄8 x 5 1⁄8 in. basket 8: 3 3⁄4 x 5 x 4 1⁄4 in. basket 9: 4 x 4 1⁄2 x 4 5⁄8 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
Artist
Date
2013
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
basket 1: 6 1⁄4 x 14 5⁄8 x 12 3⁄8 in. basket 2: 7 x 11 7⁄8 x 9 1⁄4 in. basket 3: 7 3⁄8 x 12 7⁄8 x 8 5⁄8 in. basket 4: 5 7⁄8 x 10 1⁄2 x 8 3⁄4 in. basket 5: 4 3⁄8 x 7 1⁄2 x 7 5⁄8 in. basket 6: 4 3⁄8 x 6 1⁄4 x 5 1⁄4 in. basket 7: 4 3⁄8 x 5 3⁄8 x 5 1⁄8 in. basket 8: 3 3⁄4 x 5 x 4 1⁄4 in. basket 9: 4 x 4 1⁄2 x 4 5⁄8 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
Mediums Description
western red cedar bark, ash, spruce root, and coated copper wire
Classifications
Subjects
  • Object — other — basket
Object Number
2021.52A-I
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/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.


This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World, 2022

Works by this artist (1 item)

Shobal Vail Clevenger, Relief Portrait of Miner Kilbourne Kellogg, 1839, plaster, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Martha F. Butler, 1992.66.1
Relief Portrait of Miner Kilbourne Kellogg
Artist
Date1839
plaster
Not on view

Exhibitions

Quilt featuring the portrait of a woman
This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World
May 13, 2022–April 2, 2023
Renwick Gallery
This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World showcases the dynamic landscape of American craft today.

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William H. Johnson, City Gates, Kairouan, ca. 1932, watercolor and pencil on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.67
City Gates, Kairouan
Artist
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Cass Gilbert, Mt. Vesuvius from the Bay of Naples, 1905, watercolor and pencil on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Emily Finch Gilbert through Julia Post Bastedo, executor, 1962.13.43
Mt. Vesuvius from the Bay of Naples
Artist
Date1905
watercolor and pencil on paper
Not on view
Cass Gilbert, Arches of Palace of Nero, 1933, watercolor and pencil on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Emily Finch Gilbert through Julia Post Bastedo, executor, 1962.13.67
Arches of Palace of Nero
Artist
Date1933
watercolor and pencil on paper
Not on view