Martin Puryear’s practice is dedicated to craftsmanship and traditional building techniques. Puryear, whose distinctive style has been considered a descendant of Minimalism, began studying many forms of craft in his youth; his variegated training includes carpentry, stone masonry, boat building, basketry, construction, and woodworking—many of which directly influenced Puryear when he began his artistic career in the 1960s. He is best known for his use of natural materials in creating his sculptures, including tar, rawhide, stone, wire, metals, and, most frequently, wood.

Often associated with both Minimalism and Formalist sculpture, Puryear rejects that his work is ever non-referential or objective. The pure and direct imagistic forms born from his use of traditional craft are allusive and poetic, as well as deeply personal. Visually, they encounter the history of objects and the history of their making, suggesting public and private narratives including those of the artist, race, ritual, and identity. His works are typically abstract and geometric; in Puryear’s words, he “makes things rather than representations of them,” and avoids references to time and place.