Critical MAS: Tricia LaFrance on Sarah Peterman’s “Wool Bin”
Written by Tricia LaFrance
When I encounter the assemblage online, “Wool Bin” seems, well – a bit wooly. Photos make it difficult to notice all the textures, shapes, and colors of brown. However, when it is viewed in person, with space to walk around the assemblage, it is easier to focus on the details and to appreciate the work.
Wavy lines of the circular compost bin draw the eye around the bin and back to the focal point – layer upon layer of soft fleece stacked almost to the point of spilling forth. The raw wool harmonizes with the rusty finish of the container – a conveyer belt that the artist converted into a compost bin. This textural assemblage contrasts the industrial with the domestic, according to Sarah Peterman’s artist statement. Peterman, who lives in Fern Ridge, grew up watching her mother spin and weave and has always been attracted to the feel of fleece, raw wool, and to the colors and smell of natural lanolin, which sheep produce to protect wool and skin from weather and the environment.
When farmers handed her colored wool, which is usually composted, Peterman was naturally interested and also intrigued by the idea of composting. So she got busy caring for the wool and creating a container, which she set upon mahogany pallet wood that had turned silver gray from exposure to sunshine and rain.
“I always resist the definition of the throw-away,” said Peterman. She stated that “Wool Bin” will be placed outdoors after the closing of the Mayor’s Art Show. The wool may then be replenished or may be left to decompose in the land. “Interaction with nature completes the artwork,” she added.
This won’t be the first time that one of Peterman’s artworks has been set outside for viewing in a public space. One of her assemblages, “Composition,” which Peterman has described as “a water inspired piece of assembled constructions and objects,” – comprised of wood, rubber strips, and metal cans – stood in the rain and weather in the Eugene Contemporary Art space, Whiteaker area, from December 2013 through January 2014. Current examples of Peterman’s sculpture and furniture can be seen at the Karin Clarke Gallery, Eugene, Oregon: Eugene Biennial Award Winners – One Year Later, from July 31 – August 31, 2019.
“Wool Bin” contrasts the hardness of steel with the softness of wool, and also contrasts the industrial with the natural world. The piece reminds me of an 1844 essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson that encouraged readers to start looking at the beauty of industrial objects, which, at that time, had just begun to dot the once natural landscape.
To learn more about the writing in the Critical MAS series, go to Critical MAS: Introduction.