Tag: John McQueen

Art Assembled: New this Week in September

October 9, 2026 0 Comment

September was another month of varied and dynamic works. These four artists work with wildly diverse materials — bark and branch, metal mesh, kibisio silk, and stainless steel filaments — deftly giving them new life as works of art.

Bark Basket
71jm Untitled #163, John McQueen, tulip poplar bark and plastic rivets, 29″ x 18″ x 6.5″, 1988 Photo by Tom Grotta

Here’s an early-ish work by John McQueen, who was known for his remarkable works of bark and branch. In this case he has replicated the joint of a tree — its form and texture — from tulip bark. “The joint where branch meets limb is full of energy” McQueen has said, “If it could move, it would dance.”

steel mesh sculptural basket
13cc Untitled (Treasure Basket)-2, Chunghi Choo, wire mesh, 11″ x 12″ x 9″, 1990’s. Photo by Tom Grotta

Korean-American artist Chunghi Choo’s early life in Korea set the stage for artistic career. Before coming to live in the US, she studied painting, calligraphy, ancient philosophy, world religions, and Eastern and Western aesthetics at the Ewha Woman’s University in Seoul. In the 60s, she came to Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan for graduate study. From there, she gained recognition for her artworks and inspired teaching. She has created textiles and translucent metal mesh baskets, like Untitled (Treasure Box). Choo is renown for her elegant and refined tableware, free-standing sculptures, and sculptural wearable jewelry.

Choo is professor emeritus of the University of Iowa (US), where she established a metals program, which she brought to international prominence during her more than 30 years at the University. The comprehensive volume, Chunghi Choo and Her Students: Contemporary Art and New Forms in Metal, by Jane Milosch, reviews her remarkable career. It includes work by 30 of her students who have since become critically acclaimed artists in the fields of fine arts, jewelry, textiles, metalsmithing, and sculpture, revealing Choo’s influence on a subsequent generation. 

24ki.1 Auric Gauze Four, Kiyomi Iwata, woven Kibiso embellished with 24K gold leaf and red paint, 50” x 47” x .05”, 2020. Photo by Tom Grotta

According to Kiyomi Iwata, the “complex nuance of North versus South” influenced her work when she crossed the Mason-Dixon line and moved to Richmond, Virginia from New York in 2010. There, Iwata began a work made from kibiso, a trademarked thread provided by Tsuruoka Fabric Industry Cooperative in Tsuruoka, Japan. “Kibiso has a very different attraction for me,” Iwata says, “contrary to my usual silk organza, which is woven from fine silk thread. By using kibiso, I am using the silkworm’s whole life output, which is gratifying. I went back to the traditional manner of using thread to weave. Whatever the thread had from its previous life, such as the silkworm’s cocoon, I left it where it was and dyed the thread.” 

Iwata transforms kibiso into tapestry-like hangings like Auric Gaze Four. “They are either dyed or embellished with gold leaf,” she explains, “and I enjoy the process as much as the results. The whole idea of working, using hands and mind, and letting the process lead me is an eternal moment of joy for me. Sometimes I use a frame to give the piece a limitation, and other times I let the wall space frame the piece. It really is a difference in how I like to present the piece.” In Iwata’s hands, kibiso leads to striking results.

48kk Plates of Glass, Kyoko Kumai, stainless steel, glass, 14.25″ x 9.75″ x .25″ each, 1990. Photo by Tom Grotta

Kyoko Kumai has been weaving stainless steel filaments into sculptures, tapestries, and installations since the 1980s. In 1991, in her room-sized installation at MoMA PS 1, Projects 28: Kyoko Kumai, she transformed piled and manipulated the industrial metal materials into an unexpectedly sensuous sculptural environment. 

In Plates of Glass, Kumai has sandwiched different woven segments of steel filament between glass to create yet-another take on this versatile material. Kumai writes, “There is something mysterious, erotic, even fluid about the texture of stainless steel fiber when it meets the weaver’s hand. Its hard, cool, directionless character becomes flexible and warm. In the final stage it stands seeming to draw a breath—wavering and blowing in the wind.”

More to come in October!

New York State of Mind

August 26, 2026 0 Comment

At browngrotta arts we promote artists from more than two dozen countries and 15 of the United States. California artists are our largest US artist group with 10 artists, but New York is a close second — including artists who lived and worked in New York like Ethel Stein, Blair Tate, Nancy Koenigsberg, Lenore Tawney, and John McQueen, artists originally from New York, like Karyl Sisson, and those, like Jin-Sook So, Grethe Sørensen, and Toshio Sekiji who were mightily impressed by time spent there.

Here, we share works from this talented and diverse group of artists, works that reflect the ways in which this dynamic place influenced their art.

Steel Mesh and Gold Jin-Sook So
Jin-Sook So, 49-50jss New York Skyline I + II,, steel mesh, electroplated silver, patinated, gold leaf, thread, 33″ x 39.5″ 2.25″, 2006. Photo by Tom Grotta

Visiting New York from abroad can be eye opening. Jin-Sook So who lives in Sweden and Korea, came to New York on an O visa, for individuals of extraordinary ability and achievement. She expressed New York’s impact in the luminous New York Skyline series. The works are made of steel mesh that has been electroplated in silver, patinated wirh gold leaf and hand stitched with steel thread.

Toshio Sekiji NY paper collages
Toshio Sekiji, 15ts NY Street Map Collage, lacquered New York street maps, 29″ x 40″, 1997 and 19ts NYT Collage, lacquered NYT, 31″ x 41″, 1997. Photos by Tom Grotta

Japanese artist Toshio Sekiji was known for creating collages of newspaper torn in strips and lacquered. A visit to New York led him to create NYT Collage made from strips of The New York Times and also inspired him to transform maps of New York streets into a wall work, new York Street Map Collage.

Eric Garner Protest by Grethe Sørensen
Grethe Sørensen, 18gs Movement, cotton, 89.5″ x 64″ x 1.875″, 2016, tapestry from the arist’s video of a protesting the death of Eric Garner in NYC. Photo by Tom Grotta

Grethe Sørensen of Denmark was on Broadway in New York City while on a visit when she saw people protesting about police brutality toward a black man, Eric Garner, who died while being arrested. A photo of the scene became the tapestry Movement. Sørensen described the process, “A camera’s light-sensitive lens, held open for several seconds, recorded the protest march on the street – a stream of people with banners, placards, and signs. Their motion creates stripes which almost resemble light brushstrokes. Trash bins, newspaper vending boxes, a couple of onlookers, and a photographer stand still in the picture – a little unclear and diffuse. Meanwhile, the road’s arrows, words, and lanes appear as sharp white markings on the black asphalt. The weaving expresses motion in diverse ways: a mental, emotional, political, as well as physical movement.”

Lenore tall freestanding tapestry
Lenore Tawney, 3t Shrouded River, linen, wood, 154″ x 22″, ca. 1966-67. Photo by Tom Grotta

Adopted sons and daughters of New York are not untouched. Moving to New York from Chicago, Lenore Tawney was immediately taken by the East River, which she could see from the window of her loft in Coenties Slip in Manhattan. According to the Lenore Tawney Foundation, [The river] “became a motif in the ambitious woven forms that flowed out of her loom and puddled on the floor, where she would finish them by hand with sailor’s knots. She ordered ‘a great deal of black and white linen thread’ and described this as a thrilling time when her work ‘poured out like a fountain or a river…. The river was right out my window, and I looked at it every day.’ Even a sketch in her journal, of the Staten Island Ferry’s wake, looking back to the Manhattan skyline, evokes the delicate threads of her weaving.” 

John McQueen collage of all of his homes
John McQueen, 47jm Site Reading (framed work of previous homes), willow, waxed string, recycled plastic, 58.75″ x 51″ x 4″, 2018. Photo by Tom Grotta

John McQueen had lived in Florida, New Mexico, and Philadelphia before moving to western New York state which he described as “far from the hubbub.” New York willow that he harvested from his yard was his material of choice. And NewYork homes he lived in — including one he built and another that began as a converted auto-repair garage — appear in Site Reading, a wall work he made of willow, waxed string, and recycled plastic.

Ethel Stein protest to Indian Point
Ethel Stein, No to Indian Point, cotton damask, 27.75” x 29.5”, 1997. Photo by Tom Grotta

New York Natives were not immune to its charms.The late Ethel Stein was born and educated in art at a progressive school outside of New York. In No to Indian Point, Stein wove an emphatic statement against the continuing operation of Indian Point, a nuclear energy facility in Buchanan, New York, not far from Stein’s home. No to Indian Point is exceptional among Stein’s weavings in its forthright political stance.

Nancy Koenigsberg steel towers
Nancy Koenigsberg, 82nak Broadway Trio, coated copper wire and lead weights, 29” x 17” x 12”, 2024. Photo by Tom Grotta

Nancy Koenigsberg arrived in New York more than 50 years ago. In the late 70s, she and five other artists formed the Textile Study Group of New York, which now has members worldwide. The works she makes of wire in black and various colors are inspired by varied topics —  weather and climate change, geometry, emotions. New York is among those topics, in works like Barbican Towers and Broadway Trio.

Karyl Sisson Straw Towers
88ks Straw Skyline, Karyl Sisson, vintage paper drinking straws and polymer, 14.375″ x 32.5″ x 3″ (linear layout), 2013. Photo by Tom Grotta

88KS For even those who left New York like Karyl Sisson, born in Brooklyn but a resident of California since the 1970s, New York leaves traces. Straw Skyline, made in 2011 of vintage paper straws and polymer looks remarkably familiar to those of us on the East Coast. A testament to the power of the New York state of mind.

The Moon as Muse

April 15, 2026 0 Comment

The Guardian said it well: “If you’ve been looking up at the moon with childlike wonder these past few days, you aren’t alone. NASA’s Artemis II lunar mission has captured imaginations at a time when wonder and optimism are in short supply.” The photographs of the moon in IRL that resulted from the mission are breathtaking.

The dark side of the Moon NASA
Shadows at the Edge of Lunar Day: The edge of the Moon’s night and day creates shadows across the surface (Image credit: NASA)

Man has also looked to the moon for artistic inspiration through millennia. Artists who work with browngrotta arts not immune to celestial charm; we’ve gathered some examples here.

The travel website Fly Me to the Moon, lists possible reasons for the moon’s appeal. It could be the subconscious connection with the amorous ancient Greek goddess of the moon, Selene, or the moon’s association with fertility. 
Dark Moon tapestry, Laura Foster Nicholson
19lf Dark Moon, Laura Foster Nicholson, wool with cotton, metallic, angelina fiber, ink, 34.5″ x 16″, 2017. photo by Tom Grotta

It could also be her ever changing nature that captures our attention. Her light illuminates our quietest and most contemplative hours. “In a dark sea of instability, the full moon in a richly deep blue sky is both reassuring and evocative,” says Laura Foster Nicholson. “Hints of reflective threads in Dark Moon aim to bring split seconds of insight and imagination, as do the stars.”

Or perhaps it’s simply the spectacle of moonlight. Paul Furneaux’s visit to the Norwegian fjords led to Fractured Moon, Fractured Mountain. He was particularly taken by the drama played on the fjords by the change of light, one half often shadowing the other — when translated to Fractured Moon, Fractured Mountain, it’s reminiscent of the drama of the familiar light and enigmatic sides of the moon.

Paul Furneaux sculpture
5pf Fractured Moon-Fractured Mountain, Paul Furneaux, Wood, gesso, Mokuhanga, graphite,card ,rice paste and acrylic, 15.75″ x 13.75″. photo courtesy Paul Furneaux

It’s also magical, and mystical. Golden Moon, by Norma Minkowitz, has a large, intricate orb rising up. It is a symbol of illumination, insight and mystery. “The moon is a metaphor for beauty in this world,” she says, “as well as acting as a source of light in the darkness”. Golden Moon is one of a series of vessel forms that Norma Minkowitz been creating since the 1990’s. The vessels represent containers of different thoughts: some dark, some optimistic and some, like Golden Moon, ethereal.

Norma Minkowitz Golden Moon
115nm Golden Moon, Norma Minkowitz, fiber, mixed media, 7.5” x 12” x 12”, 2024. photo by Tom Grotta

The moon has been used by artists to express “longing, change, the spiritual, the mysterious, and the sorrowful, according to WikiArt, the Visual Art Encyclopedia. In When Darkness Comes Calling, John 
McQueen wanted to capture that magical moment when a full moon comes out in a dark sky. The light and dark contrast is achieved by surrounding the white birch bark of the moon with the darker back sides of the pine and birch barks. The title of the piece comes from the lyrics of a song by Lily Kershaw, As It Seems. In The Other Side of the Moon, McQueen makes a tongue-in-cheek observation about our obsession with the moon. One side of the vessel reads: Man made up the man in the moon. The second side says: The first self-serve in no man’s land.

John McQueen moon sculptures
34jm After Dark Comes Calling, John McQueen, white pine and birch bark, 42’ x 36 x3″, 2017 and 62jm The Other Side of the Moon, Jon McQueen, bark and vine, 32″ x 18″ x 14″, 1993. photo by Tom Grotta

Works inspired by the moon that reflects a visual language that crosses geography and history. Here are moon-inspired works from artists in Venezuela and the UK. Eduardo Portillo and María Davila use indigo to illustrate the night, the moon, the sky, the clouds, the dawn; moments of every day; moments filled with blue. 

Eduardo Portillo & Maria Davila tapestry and Lizzie Farey willow sculpture
8pd Codigo Lunar (Moon Code), Eduardo Portillo & Maria Davila, silk, moriche palm fiber, alpca, silver leaf triple weave, 55.5″ x 12″, 2018   23lf Mignight Moon, Lizzie Farey, willow, wire, 33″ x 33″, 2024, photos by Tom Grotta

Wishing you many lunar interludes and the mystical magic that accompany them.

Last Call: We Visit Autumn Exhibits in NY and CT

November 5, 2025 0 Comment

Between exhibitions and catalog production we — Tom and Rhonda at browngrotta arts — try to get out and take in some art and entertainment. This October and November are no exception. We’ve been able to visit five exhibitions over the last few weeks. Three of them close shortly — on Sunday, the fourth in December.  A sixth that we recommend is open until next May. We urge you to get out to see them while you can.

John McQueen, Caught Out
John McQueen, Caught Out, 2009/2020. Photo by Tom Grotta

John McQueen Memorial Exhibition 
The Tang Museum
Skidmore College
Saratoga Springs, NY
Through November 9th

In honor of John McQueen (1943-2025), the Tang presents the John McQueen Memorial Exhibition from November 2–9. McQueen was a conceptual fiber artist whose work was featured in the Tang exhibitions Affinity Atlas (2015) and The World According to the Newest and Most Exact Observations: Mapping Art and Science (2001). The works selected for the Memorial exhibition include McQueen’s first basket from 1975, Caught Out, a self portrait completed 35 years later, and, A Tree and its Skin. a reflective diptych sculpture that was among the artist’s favorites.

works by Margo Mensing
Works by Margo Mensing including you had better do this, canvas with machine embroidered text, 60″ x 84″, 2000. Photo by J. Shermeta

Crux of the Matter: Work by Margo Mensing and Sayward Schoonmaker
The Schick Art Gallery
Skidmore College
Saratoga Springs, NY
Through November 9th

Crux of the Matter presents work by Margo Mensing, (1941 – 2024), Skidmore College Fiber Arts professor, interdisciplinary artist and poet and Sayward Schoonmaker, Skidmore ’06, interdisciplinary artist, writer, and former student of Mensing. “Both artists play with language,” the Art Gallery notes, “using subtle humor as underpinning, and both approach their work through a conceptual lens, starting with an idea and then finding the physical form to best serve it.” Mensing’s works range from weavings and quilts to her sculptural response to Ghiberti’s 15th Century Gates of Paradise, monumental bronze doors that feature ten Old Testament scenes in square panels. Mensing’s wooden doors, also monumental, feature ten household tips (such as, “Tenderize tough meat in 1 Tbsp vinegar and 1 pint water”) each incised in a square linoleum panel.

As Mensing’s son, J. Shermeta notes, her magnum opus was her “Dead at” series. Each year beginning on her birthday, October 4th, Mensing created a presentation, or a performance centered on the life and accomplishments of a famous person who died at her current age. Starting with J Robert Oppenheimer at age 63 in 2004, Margo created artwork, poetry, and organized group performances about the lives and work of Joan Mitchell, Elizabeth Bishop, Denise Levertov, Walt Disney, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Donald Judd ,and Louis Armstrong. To celebrate the life and magic of Louis Armstrong, for example, Mensing choreographed STOPTIME: Louis Armstrong Festival, bringing together musicians, artists, and performers to create over a dozen events from 4 to midnight on July 6, 2011. The Horns of Hudson band played, art teachers hosted a “Rhythm! Color! Collage!” workshop for kids, tap dancers performed and joy–inspired by the music of Louis Armstrong–was shared by all.

The Schick exhibition includes a wide range of thought-provoking works, early abstract weavings, the lovely lyrical machine-embroidered poem, you had better do this, items from the Dead at series and from other of Mensing’s projects including a group of glass pipes created as part of A Very Liquid Heaven, a multimedia installation and performance event that examined science and the universe.  Also included in Crux of the Matter, are intriguing works by Sayward Schoonmaker. As the Art Center describes the collection, “from poems written in letters formed by pencil shavings, to Slice, a table with a glittering black surface interrupted by slivers of white substructure, she employs exquisite craftsmanship throughout. Her works feel like unadorned truths, simultaneously urgent and familiar, plainly-stated and enigmatic.”

Vietnam: Tradition Upended
Vietnam: Tradition Upended, Flinn Gallery, Greenwich, Connecticut. Photo by Tom Grotta.

Vietnam: Tradition Upended
Flinn Gallery
Greenwich, CT
Through November 9th

In collaboration with the Art Vietnam Gallery in Hanoi, the Flinn Gallery has organized Vietnam: Tradition Upended. The exhibition was curated by Debra Fram and Barbara Richards, who have worked with browngrotta arts on previous exhibitions at the Flinn, and Suzanne Lecht from Art Vietnam Gallery. The exhibition’s origins are several years old.  Fram and Richards had travelled to Vietnam in 2019 and in Hanoi met Lecht, who it turned out, had lived in Greenwich on the 80s. The three remained in contact and over the next four years, Vietnam: Tradition Upended  took shape. The exhibition features nine interdisciplinary artists who work in a variety of mediums and styles. We were excited by the diversity on display and particularly taken by the mixed media works of Nguyen Cam (b.1944, Haiphong, Vietnam) and the calligraphic statements of Pham Van Tuan (b.1979, Thanh Hoa province, Vietnam), 35 years his junior.

As The Flinn notes, the artists in Vietnam: Tradition Upended all take time-honored traditions and materials and rework them in a modern context, acknowledging the past while simultaneously breaking away. With 2025 marking exactly half a century since the end of the Vietnam War, and 30 years since the normalization of relations between Vietnam and the U.S., this is an opportune time to acquaint ourselves with the art and culture of a country that has undergone extraordinary change; a country with one of the most interesting and vibrant art scenes in Southeast Asia.

Making Tracks, 2016 quilt
Kenya Baleech Alkebu (quilt design), Maureen Kelleher (quilting), Harriet Tubman, Making Tracks, 2016 at Stitching Time. Photo by Tom Grotta

Stitching Time: The Social Justice Collaboration Quilts Project
Fairfield Gallery Art Museum/Walsh Gallery
Fairfield, CT
Through December 13, 2025

Stitching Time features 12 quilts created by men who are incarcerated in the Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola Prison. We listed the exhibition here a few weeks ago, but having the chance to see the creativity and careful creation of these works in person was a treat. These works of art, and accompanying recorded interviews, tell the story of a unique inside-outside quilt collaboration. The exhibition focuses our attention on the quilt creators, people often forgotten by society when discussing the history of the U.S. criminal justice system. Also on view in the gallery is Give Me Life, a curated selection of strong works from women artists presently or formerly incarcerated at York Correctional Institution, a maximum security state prison in Niantic, Conn., courtesy of Community Partners in Action (CPA). The CPA’s Prison Arts Program was initiated in 1978 and, operating since 1875, it is one of the longest-running projects of its kind in the United States. The quilts and CPA artworks are poignant, hopeful, and often aesthetically impressive. If you can’t visit by December, check out the exhibition’s website where you’ll find images, videos, and a flip-through catalog.

Jeremy Frey baskets
Jeremy Frey baskets at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut. Photo by Tom Grotta

Jeremy Frey: Woven
The Bruce Museum
Greenwich, CT
Closed

We visited Jermey Frey: Woven at the Bruce Museum just before it closed at the end of October. Frey’s virtuosity as a seventh-generation basketmaker, steeped in the Passamaquoddy tradition, was clearly evident in this remarkable retrospective. However, we were also excited and surprised to see Frey’s prints, which were striking. The exhibition had traveled from the Portland Museum of Art and if you missed it in Maine or Greenwich, there are many resources you can access to see the works that were included and learn about Frey’s meticulous process. There are images of 18 works and links to several articles from ArtDaily to The New York Times on the PAM website. There are also links to videos about the artist.

Uman: After all the things…(installation view, I’m staying inside, 2025), The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, October 19, 2025, to May 10, 2026. Courtesy of the artist, Nicola Vassell Gallery, and Hauser & Wirth. ©Uman. Photo: Olympia Shannon

Uman: After all the things
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum
Ridgefield, CT
Through May 10, 2026

We have not had a chance to visit Uman: After all the things at the Aldrich Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut but we will. As the Museum observes, “Uman’s practice, which spans painting, works on paper, murals, sculpture, and glass, is about color that is felt and content that is experienced. Under the influence of memories, dreams, and change, her visual language is intuitive, multilayered, adaptable, and free; neither exclusively abstract nor metaphorical, it proliferates in the indeterminate and transcendent.” Uman says that her work “offers an escape …. [m]y work is its own activism.” She wants her work to “feel good for the audience.” This is an approach also taken by some of the artists in browngrotta arts’ recent exhibition, Beauty is Resistance: art as antidote.  We look forward to being engaged, uplifted, and inspired.

Hope you’ll get a chance to view one or more of the exhibitions, in-person or online.

Art Assembled: September Highlights

October 1, 2025 0 Comment
John McQueen spanish moss basket
77jm Untitled #152, John McQueen, Spanish moss, black ash, 5.5″ x 16.5″ x 16″, 1978. Photo by Tom Grotta

September had five Mondays, so we provided a full complement of artworks for New This Week. First up was John McQueen‘s 1970s basket, Untitled #152, made of black ash and Spanish moss. In his lifetime, McQueen created more than 500 sculptural baskets from willow, bark, moss, cardboard, and recycled plastic — nearly all of materials that he gathered from his yard or his trash. His influence on other artists and participants in his workshops was immeasurable (See rembrances by Hisako Sekijima and Hideko Numata on arttextstyle.)

Semiotic by Rebecca Medel
12rme.1 Semiotic, Rebecca Medel, knotted & braided resist linen, plexiglas, 35.75″ x 7.25″ x 3.25″, 1992-1994. Photo by Tom Grotta

Our next New This Week artwork was Rebecca Medel’s Semiotic. Semiotics is the study of how meaning is created and communicated. Its origins lie in the academic study of how signs and symbols (visual and linguistic) create meaning. It’s a parallel for Medel’s work in which she explores ideas involving time and space metaphysics, and symbolism. During her graduate education, Medel developed a personal off-loom technique to knot large structural multi-planed square grid nets with ikat and braid resist threads. These resist processes separated color and created ambiguous or floating values of color. Medel singled out the use of linen and cotton thread because they are intrinsically structural and can be both bleached and dyed. The elemental characteristic of the work was an exploration of light through the grid structure, without mass and weight, on the edge of being physically supportable, and creating transparent weightlessness. Structure was achieved through the use of lines that became planes, at times parallel and layered, at other times connecting and intersecting perpendiculars; against the wall or coming out in relief.

Prayer Field by Lewis Knauss
29lk Prayer Field, Lewis Knauss woven, knotted, linen, hemp, raffia 23” x 23” x 5” each, 2011. Photo by Tom Grotta

After receiving his BFA in Art Education at Kutztown University, Lewis Knauss completed an MFA at Tyler School of Art. He taught for 30 years at Moore College of Art, in Pennsylvania. Knauss’s art is inspired by landcape — Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Colorado, New Mexico, Israel, and, Egypt. Another influence in works like Prayer Field, is meditation. “When my mother died,” he has said, “I decided to look into mindfulness-based stress reduction. My art is a form of mediation because you have given yourself a focus. I do a lot of knotting in my work. When a friend was diagnosed with cancer, I didn’t know what to say, so I made a long piece with knots and said each knot is a prayer.”

Red Pleated Mia Olsson
14mo Pleated, Red, Mia Olsson, sisal fibers, 30.625”” x 27.125” x 2.55”, 2025. Photo by Tom Grotta

Pleated by Mia Olsson is made of sisal fibers, dyed and formed in a technique unique to the artist. The sisal fibers used by the Swedish artist are shiny and reflect the light, even more when formed in relief. The colors are richly saturated — engaging the viewer on each viewing. Olsson manipulates the prickly sisal into airy, semi-transparent wall sculptures, dyed in richly saturated warm tones. “I am interested in exploring textile fibers, how they are, their properties and characteristics, and what I can do with them,” says Olsson. Olsson describes sisal as “so interesting to work with, especially when forming three-dimensional pieces. My work is experimental and I never know on which journeys the fibers will take me.”

Landscape Transformed by Adela Akers
Adela Akers, 50aa Landscape Transformed, linen, horsehair, paint & metal foil, 73″ x 32″ x 2″, 2011. Photo by Tom Grotta

Adela Akers was born in Spain, educated at the University of Havana in Cuba and inspired by her extensive travels, Akers grounded her practice in a diverse and geographically disparate range of influences. Landscape Interrupted, our last New This Week entry for September,reflects her visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where she observed the painting process of the Mbuti women of the Ituri Forest. Akers’ work was also informed by the abstract expressionism movement in the 1950’s. A work by Adela Akers that resulted from Akers’s study of the marks made by Mbuti women will be features in Beauty is Resistance: art as antidote at browngrotta arts this month (October 11 – 19).

In Memory: John McQueen

September 17, 2025 2 Comments

This week we share another testament to the profound influence that John McQueen has had within the art world. The recollection below is from Hideko Numata, the curator of the influential exhibitions Weaving the World: the Art of Linear Construction at the Yokohama Museum of Art in Japan in 1999.

Last month, I received the deeply saddening news from Hisako Sekijima that John McQueen had passed away. I was filled with a profound sense of sorrow and regret. Meeting John McQueen remains one of the most meaningful and unforgettable experiences of my career as a curator.

John McQueen's sketches
Twig sketches behind John McQueen’s Saratoga New York’s workbench. Photo by Tom Grotta

I first encountered John McQueen around 1997, while I was planning the 10th-anniversary exhibition at the Yokohama Museum of Art. I was responsible for the crafts section. At that time, I had the uncomfortable sense that there was a noticeable divide between fine art and crafts in the Japanese art world. Even in our museum, which focused on modern and contemporary art, the crafts section was often undervalued, and I frequently found myself frustrated by these limitations. I began to wonder whether it might be possible to curate an exhibition that transcended traditional art categories and explored the origins of artistic formation.

Hisako Sekijima’s book, The Formula of Basketry
Hisako Sekijima’s book, The Formula of Basketry

It was during this period that I came across Hisako Sekijima’s book, The Formula of Basketry. Although Japan has a longstanding tradition of bamboo craft, her book transformed my understanding of basketry—not simply as the weaving of plant materials into containers, but as a medium of dynamic expression with limitless potential. Basketry, I realized, could incorporate not only natural elements but also paper, wire, and other materials, to create both flat and sculptural forms from linear elements.

John Mcqueen Workshop Gakugei
John McQueen Workshop in Japan, courtesy of the Yokohama Museum of Art

Hisako Sekijima began making baskets in Japan, but her time in the United States from 1975 to 1979 exposed her to basketry as an art form. She was captivated by the spirit of freedom and experimentation she found there. Participating in John McQueen’s workshop during that period was a turning point for her. Her vivid recollections in the book sparked my own interest in both McQueen’s work and the artist himself.

When I first encountered his art, I was immediately struck by its originality. McQueen used a wide range of materials and weaving techniques to create abstract forms, alphabetic characters, and large-scale figures of people and animals. His works were not functional baskets but powerful sculptures—three-dimensional expressions of contemporary art. The materials and weaving methods themselves appeared to alter the forms and movements they expressed. They overturned my preconceived notions of sculpture.

The act of weaving — strands forming two- or three-dimensional shapes — is one of the most fundamental, universal methods of making. Practiced globally since ancient times, it holds an infinite capacity for expression. I felt it could offer a way to bridge the gap between fine art and craft. This realization led me to curate the exhibition Weaving the World, Contemporary Art of Linear Construction, which brought together works from both craft fields such as basketry and textiles, and contemporary art that used linear or woven elements.

Weaving the World, Contemporary Art of Linear Construction
Installation shot of Weaving the World, Contemporary Art of Linear Construction, courtesy of the Yokohama Museum of Art

For this exhibition, John McQueen contributed one bird’s nest-like piece and two human-shaped sculptures. The bird’s nest-like structure was constructed from short wooden branches inserted and layered to form a structure that, while sturdy, appeared almost fragile—like it might collapse at any moment. The human figures were created using branches and vines secured with plastic cable ties. One figure was made by weaving taut, slender vines into an airy yet resilient human shape. It maintained a strong presence, offering glimpses through its woven mesh to the inner space and the world beyond. The other was composed by densely interweaving branches to fill the interior form. Although it was structurally solid, it lacked the gravitas of stone or bronze, instead possessing a lighthearted, even humorous character. McQueen’s work effortlessly transcended the boundaries between sculpture and craft.

Weaving the World, Contemporary Art of Linear Construction
Installation shot of Weaving the World, Contemporary Art of Linear Construction, courtesy of the Yokohama Museum of Art

The exhibition featured artists from Europe, the United States, and Japan, spanning both the craft and contemporary art worlds. These included browngrotta arts gallery artists such as Norma Minkowitz, Markku Kosonen, Toshio Sekiji, and Hisako Sekijima; sculptors like Richard Deacon and Martin Puryear; installation artists working with natural materials, including Andy Goldsworthy and Ludwika Ogorzelec; Supports/Surfaces artists like François Rouan; and conceptual artists such as Rosemarie Trockel and Margo Mensing. Though diverse in practice, they were united in their exploration of “line” as a medium – unfolding into inner landscapes, social commentary, and artistic forms Viewers could deeply appreciate the richness of art created by weaving linear materials as they moved through the exhibition space.

workshop participants Weaving Yokohama
Workshop participants Weaving Yokohama, Crossing Paths, courtesy of the Yokohama Museum of Art

During the exhibition, we held a three-day public workshop titled “Weaving Yokohama, Crossing Paths” led by John McQueen and Margo Mensing. Takahiro Kinoshita, an educator of the Yokohama Museum of Art’s education group, organized this workshop. He spent an entire year coordinating the event with the two artists. Fifty participants and twenty-three volunteers took part. On the first day, there was an introduction to the workshop, consecutive lectures from McQueen, Mensing, and Sekijima. The following two days were dedicated to creation, taking place in the museum’s open-air portico, where the public could observe the process.

Weaving Yokohama, Crossing Paths
Weaving Yokohama Crossing Paths workshop, courtesy of the Yokohama Museum of Art

The workshop used bottom trawl nets previously employed by Yokohama’s fishermen. Working in pairs, participants traced human shapes onto the nets, cut them out, and wove various materials into the forms. On the first day, they completed the human-shaped silhouettes. The second day focused on filling the interior spaces by weaving in different materials. Though more challenging than expected, the collaborative process allowed each pair to create a unique piece through trial, connection, and creativity. Even beginners were able to experience the satisfaction of shaping and completing something with their own hands. Each work reflected its creators—different in material, method, and spirit—shining with individuality.

The exhibition and workshop were warmly received by the public, and the exhibition was honored with that year’s Ringa Award for the outstanding exhibition that year. I believe that by focusing on the elemental act of weaving, visitors were able to rediscover the joy of form-making and expression—beyond the confines of any genre.

I remain deeply grateful to John McQueen. He reminded me that even the most humble materials and methods can give rise to profound beauty and meaning. His inspiration continues to live on, not only in his works but in all of us who had the honor of working with him.

May he rest in peace.
Hideko Numata
Professor, Showa University of Music
Former Chief Curator of the Yokohama Museum of Art Curator,
Weaving the World: Contemporary Art of Linear Construction, 
Yokohama Museum of Art, Japan 1999

Hisako Sekijima on John McQueen’s Impact in Flexible Forms and Words 

September 3, 2025 1 Comment
Hisako Sekijima with John Mcqueen in 2011
Hisako Sekijima discussed her work with John Mcqueen in 2011 at browngrotta arts. Photo by Tom Grotta

The passing of John McQueen in midsummer 2025 made me look back over the strong impact he has had on me and other artists, an impact that has never weakened. In my early days, I learned a lot from both his art work and articulate statements in teaching. Writing this remembrance has replaced my grief with my refreshed excitement of those days. In it I also want to convey deep regret about his passing from other Japanese basketmakers who studied in his courses. 

As a tribute, I have included an illustration of his workshop at Peter’s Valley Craft Center in 1978, from my book Formula for Basketry. It was republished last year, 36 years after its original in which I discussed my 10-year artistic exploration, starting with problems thrown at basketmakers by McQueen.

John Mcqueen illustration

Twelve participants of his course, including myself, triumphantly carried a group project, a big basket like a geodesic dome, on the top of a car to the auction site of the Craft Center. Requiring us to put it upside down, I now realize, symbolized very well his intent to throw us all outside of the conventions of basketmaking. At that time I lived in suburban New York City and was anxious to take his course. His Untitled Basket overwhelmed me with beautiful forms made of low processed plant materials with totally original structural mechanisms. I had visited exhibitions to see his work at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts and galleries including Hadler/Rodriguez, Florence Duhl, and Helen Drutt.

John Mcqueen Hadler Gallery Catalog

I never became a participant of one of his workshops again after Peter’s Valley, because while there, John McQueen gave me a basketful of homework that put me on a lifetime path of extremely experimental exploration. After returning to Japan in 1979, I enthusiastically set up his workshops as a planner, adviser, and assistant or interpret/moderator, in order to introduce a Japanese audience and my students to the fascinating gateway to the basket world that John McQueen was discovering.  

John Mcqueen harvesting willow
John Mcqueen harvesting willow. Photo by Tom Grotta

In 1978, John McQueen’s work was exhibited for the first time in Japan in a survey show of contemporary textile arts from Europe, America, and Japan (Part I: Fiber Works – Europe, Japan; Part II: Fiber Works – Americas, Japan). It was curated by Shigeki Fukunaga as a two-part series in 1977 and 1978 for the Museums of Modern Art in Kyoto and Tokyo. The next time McQueen’s work was exhibited in Japan was in 1989 in an exhibition of American contemporary crafts entitled The Eloquent Object which started at Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa Oklahoma and travelled to the Museums of Modern Art in New York, Kyoto, and Tokyo. In those years in Japan, contemporary basketmaking had just started attracting a few weavers’ attention. In narrower circles,  those who knew more about contemporary baskets as new art forms through slides or publications I brought back from America and through John McQueen’s early innovative work were intoxicated by the vast possibility of asserting modes of sculptural basketmaking. 

John McQueen installs Frieze
John McQueen installs Frieze made of willow. Photo by Tom Grotta

In the winter of 1997, I planned, with Kazue Homma, basketmaker and publisher of a mini-circulation for basketmakers, to invite John McQueen to Japan. We set up a series of events within his one-month stay: in Tokyo two-day workshop with a slide lecture, a slide lecture at Gallery Isogaya, and a joint lecture for three art schools. In Kyoto, he would conduct a 5-day workshop at Kawashima Textile School.

For Kyoto, I scheduled his course in place of a basketry course in the school’s “Hands Week” program that was scheduled annually. I had been teaching a one-week basketry course for 15 years before then. I intentionally planned his teaching to be not too conceptual but quite technical, in consideration of the preference of Japanese participants. Even so, McQueen’s method was so extraordinary and innovative that all were intrigued or taken out of their conventional thinking. For example, he taught how to transfer a vessel form step-by-step into a two-dimensional template, which was necessary for his signature method of “weaving a basket on the loom.” Just the idea shocked all in Japan, where good baskets ought to be made of stiff bamboo or akebia without any mold or shaping gears!! 

John McQueen teaching aside Hisako Sekijima in Japan
John McQueen teaching aside Hisako Sekijima in Japan. Photo courtesy of Hisako Sekijima

In Tokyo, McQueen’s course was filled instantly with 20 participants, mostly fellow artists and ex-students of mine. We financed his air fare by the admission costs paid a month ahead to reserve entry. When he showed how to join patches of tree bark, everyone was very pleased, as well as surprised, that he generously shared this technical secret. But, as Kazue Homma, wrote in her report of his workshop in Basketry News, “Being taught has two sides. A taught way would better be avoided, though the teacher said taking someone’s way is not always bad.”  She noted that he added “one’s own original [way] is much more difficult and so valuable.” One year after the workshops, participants of both venues had a group show John McQueen was there at Sembikiya Gallery in Tokyo to show each breakthrough.

John McQueen teaching in Japan
John McQueen teaching in Japan. Photo courtesy of Hisako Sekijima

In 1999, the Yokohama Art Museum presented Weaving the World: Contemporary Arts of Linear lConstruction. The curator, Hideko Numata, invited John McQueen and Margo Mensing for a joint workshop. (Hideko Numata’s recollection will appear in an upcoming arttextstyle.)  During that trip, I joined McQueen and Mensing for a three-day joint workshop at Sapporo Art Park in Hokkaido.  It was organized by the Art Park in collaboration with the Hokkaido branch of Kawashima Textile School’s alumni. Participants, mostly experienced weavers, had a choice of three projects: McQueen’s “stick project,” Mensing’s three-dimensional knitting, and my material transformation. Stick project, being well received in other workshops, was what can be called a portraying of a soft object in short, straight, linear materials: composing a free-standing new object with use of short sticks and other items in combination. What he explained to participants was that they should be conscious of portraying a certain aspect of the object, which he said was to be the subject of a new object. It was a very new experience to Japanese weavers. For them, making an object with a concrete subject was not familiar, because until then, more emotional or impressionistic expression had been preferred. This project, I think, reflected very well the new direction of his work which seemed getting more figurative and narrative year after year.        

Weaving the World catalog
Weaving the World catalog layout. Works by John McQueen. Photo by Tom Grotta

McQueen was a great educator in that he showed us “unlearning is a true learning.” I would like to say thank you and good bye to him with a following story. In the workshop at Kawashima Textile School I saw him teaching plaiting by aligning components on the edge at the beginning, but not on the bottom. He reversed the common procedure most basketry books take as basic. Everyone got “his new basic.” The reversed process made them give up the convention. I realized that John’s teaching skill had advanced since the time I studied with him at Peter’s Valley, in that he came to teach it from much more elemental point. He taught us in 1978 to start from the bottom, a conventional way. In due course, I got fixed in its convention. It took years to liberate myself from the basket “trap” until eventually I came to “discover” an approach based on reversed engineering on my own!!  Looking at this, I got another priceless lesson from McQueen: “Do not take for granted someone else’s basics.”

This is how I shall remember him always.  

Hisako Sekijima

Yokohama, Japan

Lives Well-Lived: John McQueen

August 1, 2025 3 Comments
John McQueen Harvesting Willow
John McQueen harvesting willow. Photo by Tom Grotta

We were deeply saddened to learn of the death of John McQueen last week. He was a remarkable artist. We had long admired his work from afar and over the years had placed several works that he showed at other galleries. We got to know him personally when he began to exhibit with browngrotta arts more than 15 years ago. He visited us in Wilton on several occasions and we traveled to upstate New York to see him and photograph him at work.

Happenstance, John McQueen
Detail: 82jm Happenstance, John McQueen, willow, waxes string,22.5″ x 8.5″ x 8.75″, 2011. Photo by Tom Grotta

McQueen created three-dimensional items of twigs, branches, bark, and sometimes plastic and cardboard, all of material he harvested and collected. These objects included books, fish, birds, lions, and human figures, and vessels and structures, some basket like, others not.  McQueen insisted that he was not a sculptor, but a basketmaker. Containment was a consistent interest. “Baskets connect with the definition of a container — a very broad concept. This room is a container. I am a container. The earth is being contained by its atmosphere. This is so open. I don’t need to worry about reaching the end of it.” (Quoted on the relationship in the catalog for his solo exhibition at the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Language of Containment, in 1992).

Untitled #88, John McQueen
64jm Untitled #88, John McQueen, elm bark and maple, 14” x 14” x 10.5”, 1979. Photo by Tom Grotta

McQueen pushed the boundaries of his art form of choice throughout his working life. He created forms of pieced bark, using forms made of cardboard, “paintings” of plastic contained within frames of twigs and branches, and integrated sly and subtle messages throughout his works. Words entered his works in 1979 in Untitled #88, in which a web of words creates the container in part and conveys an idea — “Always is always a ways away.” His subsequent works abounded with puns, rebuses, and messages to be deciphered.

Falling Fruit, John McQueen
20jm Falling Fruit, John McQueen, sticks and string on a wood grid, 40” x 48” x 12”, 2014. Photo by Tom Grotta

Man’s fruitless efforts to control nature were a frequent subject of McQueen’s art. As Vicki Halper observed in The Language of Containment, for McQueen “[t]he basket becomes an agent for investigating the fragile truce between humans and nature.” In Falling Fruit, for example, tiny stick figures are mounted beside sharks and palm trees made of twigs.  We may think we can control our world, but McQueen’s camouflage-like scene suggests otherwise. As Nature does, McQueen offers surprising combinations that remind us that life is not predictable. 

1000 Leaves, John McQueen
49jm 1000 Leaves, John McQueen, willow, waxed linen, 27″ x 48″ x 48″, 2022. Photo by Tom Grotta

In 2022, McQueen decided to take on a project that would take him a year. This was an approach regularly taken by his life partner, artist Margo Mensing, who would choose a subject — generally a person — and spend a year creating artworks, poetry, performances, and multi-media installations in response. For McQueen, the result of his year’s work was 1000 Leaves, an assemblage of individually crafted structures that paid homage to trees, the source of the material that gave life to his work.

A Tree and Its Skin Again, John McQueen
78jm A Tree and Its Skin Again, John McQueen, mixed media, 30″ x 20.25″ x 8.25″, 2006. Photo by Tom Grotta

McQueen was born in Oakland, Illinois in 1943. He received a Bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida (where Jim Morrison was his roommate). After college he went to New Mexico where his interest in basketmaking began. Courses in weaving were a logical entry point to basketry so he enrolled in the Master’s program at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, where he studied with Adela Akers among others. He received many awards in his career including an artist fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts, a Visual Artist Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, a United States/Japan Friendship Commission Fellowship, a Virginia A. Groot Foundation Award, the Master of the Medium Award from the James Renwick Alliance, and the Gold Medal from the American Craft Council. His work is found in numerous permanent collections, including that of the Museum of Arts and Design, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Kunstindustrimuseum, Trondheim, Norway, Detroit Institute of Art, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.

Not Believable, John McQueen
59jm Not Believable, John McQueen, woven willow, plastic, 20.25″ x 41″ x 5″, 2005. Photo by Tom Grotta

McQueen’s art stirs powerful feelings in viewers, forcing them to think about construction and words, metaphysically and literally.  “McQueen’s genius lies in finding a simple declarative means of speaking about paradox, essences, and fundamental truth,” Elizabeth Broun, then-director of the National Museum of American Art observed. His genius will be greatly missed.

Gone Fishing!

July 23, 2025 0 Comment
John McQueen willow billfish
John McQueen, Just Under the Record, willow sticks and waxed string, 30″ x 72″ x 12″, 1998. Photo by Tom Grotta

We are off to spend some of August in Maine. 

Judy Mulford Fish gord
Judy Mulford, A Day at the Beach, mixed media, 6″ x 9.5″ x 9.5″, 1997. Photo by Tom Grotta

We are using this week’s arttextstyle to share some images of art that reflects some of our favorite things about the place.

Ed Rossbachs Fish Trap basket
Ed Rossbach, Fish Trap, 14″ x 11″ x 11″, 1988. Photo by Tom Grotta

Fish would be one. Watching, catching, and eating them.

Chris Drury Kayaks
Chris Drury, Kayak Bundles, willow bark and cloth sea charts from Greenland and Outer Hebrides, 79″ x 55″ x 12″, 1994. Photo by Tom Grotta

Water travel is another. We love to watch boats and kayak.

Carol Shaw-Sutton willow Canoe
Carol Shaw-Sutton, Spirit Canoe, willow construction with waxed linen, 56″ x 60″ x 28″, 1999. Photo by Tom Grotta

We love to watch boats and kayak.

Bamboo boat by Dona Anderson
Dona Anderson, Crossing Over, bamboo kendo (martial art sticks), patterened paper, thread, 15″ x 94″ x 30″, 2008. Photo by tom grotta

We’ll be back next week with Art Assembled.

Annette Bellamy floating boats
Annette Bellamy Floating Installation, Fuller Craft Museum Installation. Photo by Tom Grotta

Happy Summer!!

Art Assembled – New This Week in November

November 27, 2024 0 Comment

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow, we want to take a moment to express our gratitude for the continued support from all of you. November has been a wonderful month at browngrotta arts, and we are thrilled to share the exciting developments we’ve been working on. Our highly anticipated winter exhibition Japandi Revisited: Shared Aesthetics and Influences opens on December 7, 2024, at the Wayne Art Center in Wayne, Pennsylvania. This exhibition revisits a theme we explored three years ago—how Japanese and Scandinavian artists, from Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark, draw inspiration from shared cultural and aesthetic influences. We uncovered so many fascinating stories and references that we are excited to revisit this dialogue again this winter. We hope to see you there!

In the meantime, November has been a month full of incredible features. Our New This Week series introduced the work of four incredibly talented artists: Paul Furneaux, Sue Lawty, Polly Sutton, and John McQueen. Here’s a look back at these remarkable individuals and their contributions to the world of art.

Paul Furneaux
8pf Soft Sea Lewis II, Paul Furneaux, Mokuhan Ga, Japanese woodcut print, sealed birch, UV. Photo by Tom Grotta.

Kicking off the month, we featured the talented Scottish artist, Paul Furneaux. For over a decade, Furneaux has been exploring traditional Japanese woodblock printing techniques, particularly mokuhanga. His journey with this medium began when he received a scholarship to Tama Art University in Tokyo, where he was first introduced to the intricate art of watercolor woodblock printing. Furneaux’s work took a significant turn during a residency in Norway, which inspired a conceptual shift — moving from traditional, flat printed works to creating prints as “skins” that clothe three-dimensional sculptures. This innovative approach bridges the gap between two-dimensional and three-dimensional art, transforming the print into a more dynamic, sculptural form.

He combines his technical skill in mokuhanga with elements of texture, abstraction, and narrative, resulting in pieces that are not only visually striking but also rich in meaning. His work continues to evolve, drawing from both cultural traditions and modern interpretations, creating a unique fusion of art and craftsmanship.

Sue Lawty
Sue Lawty, 35sl Coast, East Riding of Yorkshire 1-3, sea eroded stone on gesso, 12.5” x 10.5” x 1.5” each, 2024. Photo by Tom Grotta.

Next, we turned our spotlight to Sue Lawty, a highly experienced artist, designer, and educator whose work has been celebrated worldwide. Known for her deep emotional and physical connection to the land, Lawty’s practice explores the subtleties of material and construction to create unique textual languages through meticulous weaving. Her works often reflect a profound connection to nature, with her thoughtful use of wool and other fibers highlighting her commitment to the tactile, slow process of creation.

Throughout her career, Lawty has built a distinguished body of work exhibited internationally, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, where she held a year-long residency. Her art also resides in prestigious collections, including those of the Smithsonian Museums and the University of Leeds. Lawty’s work has appeared in numerous exhibitions in the UK and beyond, including the International Triennial of Tapestry in Lodz, Poland, and the Victorian Tapestry Workshop in Melbourne, Australia. Her use of natural materials and her emotionally charged process have made her an influential figure in contemporary textile art.

Polly Sutton
17ps Ebb Tide, Polly Sutton, cedar bark, binder cane, magnet wire, 14″ x 16.9″ x 12″, 2023. Photo courtesy of Polly Barton.

Mid-month, we highlighted the work of Polly Sutton, a talented artist known for her exceptional use of natural materials sourced from the Pacific Northwest. Sutton’s basketry work is often created from fibers of native Washington species, including cedar bark gathered from freshly logged forests and sweet grass collected from the tide flats of the Pacific Ocean. These materials are not just functional, but also deeply rooted in the natural world, often reflecting her personal connection to the land.

Polly Sutton is especially known for her sculptural, free-form baskets, which are created using the inner bark of Western Red Cedar trees. There are no preconceived notions about the final form; instead, Sutton’s process is one of discovery. “The work begins when I have located a logging source where, with permission, I can harvest inner bark,” she says. “The outer bark is split off in the woods, and I bring home several coils of fresh cedar bark.” Her work emphasizes pleasing, curvilinear forms, which are often asymmetrical and free-flowing, echoing the natural world that inspires her.

John McQueen
83jm Grapple, John McQueen, strip willow, white pine figures, 19.5″ x 22″ x 16″, 2023. Photo by Tom Grotta

Finally, we spotlighted John McQueen, a renowned sculptor and artist whose work often explores the relationships between natural materials and their structural possibilities. McQueen’s piece Grapple, created in 2023, features a combination of strip willow and white pine figures. His intricate arrangements challenge the boundaries of sculpture, creating forms that feel both organic and deliberate. His approach to weaving natural materials into sculptural pieces has made McQueen a beloved figure in contemporary art, inspiring countless viewers to reconsider the role of natural elements in art.

As we wrap up November, we are incredibly grateful for your continued interest and support. Stay tuned for more exciting updates as we gear up for Japandi Revisited in December. We can’t wait to share these unique works with you and look forward to seeing you at the exhibition soon!