Polly Sutton

Statement:
"The manipulative qualities of western red cedar (Thuja plicata) bark are the cornerstone of my sculptural work. I harvest the bark in the spring when the sap is running up from the roots and only with permission from the logging operations. This time of gathering allows me to spend days in the woods while I mull over new forms that have the potential to be woven and twined. When the cedar is damp it bends like leather so it is a matter of controlling the tension where I see the potential for a good curve. It is important to constantly assess the overall shape so there is balance in the asymmetry. The weaving, for me, is about the evolution of a shape that is not preconceived."
 

Selected collections and exhibition venues:
Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Missouri, Columbia (Rooted, Revived, Reinvented: Basketry in America); Musuem of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts (permanent collection); Bellevue Art Museum (High Fiber Diet), Washington; Whatcom Museum, Bellingham Washington (Reaching Beyond: Northwest Designer Craftsmen) Racine Art Museum, Racine Wisconsin (Basketworks: Cotsen Contemporary American Basket Collection); Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona (Crafting a Continuum; permanent collection); Michigan State University Art Museum, East Lansing (permanent collection); Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton Massachusetts (Game Changers: Fiber Art Masters and Innovators; All Things Considered); Phillip Dickel Basket Museum, West Amana, Iowa (Class Works II); Edmonds Art Museum, Washington (permanent collection); Los Angles Craft & Folk Art Museum (Celebrating Nature); Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock; Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, Ohio (Interwoven: Contemporary Baskets); Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster, Pennsylvania (National Crafts); Morris Museum, Morristown, New Jersey (Green from the Get Go: International Contemporary Basketmakers); Textile Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Web and Flow, National Basketry Exhibition); Washburn University, Topeka Kansas (Woven Myths: Contemporary Basketry); New Hampshire Institute of Art, Manchester New Hampshire (Traditional Craft-Contemporary Art).