This monumental sculpture is also porous: we can see through to its interior. Martin Puryear constructed its curving forms by hand, joining four functional kinds of wood: rattan, the pliable palm stem grown in Southeast Asia; ponderosa pine, a versatile softwood native to the American West; ash, an exceptionally bendable wood grown across the eastern United States; and cypress, a durable wood native to the American Southeast. Together, the four woods make up an abstract pair of shapes—a swooping line and a basket-like enclosure—whose relationship is a puzzle for the viewer’s imagination. Puryear has said, “The strongest work for me embodies contradiction, which allows for emotional tension and the ability to contain opposed ideas.”