Martin Puryear

Background
Born in 1941 Showed interest in drawing at a young age and also crafting
such as Canoes, Bows & Arrows etc.
In 1963 he graduated with a Bachelor Arts Degree
Shortly after, he Joined the Peace Corps to teach in Sierra Leonne and was
admirable toward the local carpenters who forged complicated objects
without the help of mechanical technology.
In 1966 he moved to Stockholm, Sweden, fascinated by the Scandinavian
landscape and furniture design, undertook a backpacking trip above the
Arctic circle through Lapland of Sweden and Norway, where he observed
the traditional basketry and quillwork of the locals.
Studied at Yale in 1969 Graduated with a Master of the Fine Arts degree
in 1971
Examples of work
Puryear's Work
His art was a fusion of cultures and of categories, such as sculpture, architecture, and craft. The
result was an art that functions between "fine art" and "craft" and transcends national styles and
topical issues.
Puryears work shows the extendable use of traditional craft, he manipulates the material
combining the forms of organic and geometric. With a process that is described as reductive,
Puryear seeks in his work to bring it back to it back to its original form.
His influences are a mesh of cultures, craftsman's technique and very traditional materials. The
craftsman of Sierra Leone, The Scandinavian landscapes and the locals he observed doing
basketry and quillwork, and his time spent with cabinmaker James Krenov.
Has worked with materials such as, wood, stone, tar, bronze, and wire
By learning traditional skills and understanding traditional methods, he sought to recover
creative possibilities lost to our industrialized society.
These soothe more than seethe, balancing between the geometric and the organic with Zen
aplomb.
My Thoughts
I admire how smooth and clean Puryears work is, it
feels welcoming and simple, how he is able to control
these objects form and shape simply by a traditional
process and by the means of just creating something
pure. It feels welcoming for something that doesnt
show a lot but invites the viewer to actually walk
around it and look more and think more, for me I see
curves and flow and I like to observe the space around
his work. I admire his wood sculptures because its a
sort of material that we dont expect to see in such a
curvy smooth form but Puryear manages to convey a
softer tone with this sort of material.