Simon Sparrow, Assemblage with Found Objects, after 1960, carved and painted wood with collaged pieces of costume jewelry, keychains..., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1998.84.33
I’m not sure why I like art that incorporates found objects so much. Maybe it’s the idea of someone’s trash being someone else’s treasure. Maybe it’s the unique experience that is created through a combination of ordinary items. Mostly, though, it’s the stories that these objects can tell, both individually and as parts of a larger whole. Whatever the reason, there are a number of pieces in the folk art cases of the Luce Foundation Center that allow me to indulge myself.
One piece I find very intriguing is Assemblage with Found Objects by Simon Sparrow, who created glittering images that represent people’s souls using found objects like beads, sequins, and seashells. In this assemblage Sparrow has accumulated a variety of objects and strategically placed them in a wooden frame that he carved and painted gold. Every time I look at the piece I either see something new or think about the piece in a different way.
I remember first focusing on the gold-painted turtle at the top of the frame. The turtle was actually the reason I first looked up information on the piece up at one of the Luce Center kiosks: what purpose did the artist have in incorporating a turtle? Next, it was a cameo brooch the artist placed in the top left half of the frame that caught my attention. I adore cameo brooches because, as a child, I considered them the most elegant of all jewelry. I wondered what the artist thought about cameos—did he have an opinion similar to mine? Most recently, I’ve wondered about a keychain commemorating the sixty-fifth anniversary of Mercy Hospital in Denver, Colorado. As far as I know, Simon Sparrow had never spent any time in Denver, so how did he get the keychain? Was it a gift from someone? Or truly a found object he just picked up somewhere?
