Come Unto Me, 1978
Although his artwork was only occasionally exhibited, and for many years he worked without seeking recognition, Green was among the most brilliant modern makers of assemblages and wood constructions. The writer and critic Sister Wendy Beckett was one of the first to appreciate Green's unique abilities. She wrote: 'Much of Norman Green's work reminds me of that master of assemblage art, Picasso. His work often has the same wit, inventiveness and ability to move.'
As a boy, Green was a compulsive collector, his room full of wooden patterns, matrices, tools and machine parts. At Harvard the collecting continued. By his mid-twenties he had to rent a warehouse to house these raw materials, with which he would make unusual juxtapositions, rearrangements and assemblies. Green had an obvious talent for the paste-up necessary to magazine production. Unlike paste-up, done at speed, the sculptural assemblages only emerged after patient cogitation and reflection. For Green, "the wood has to talk". He might handle the same object for months or even years before the final creation emerged.
As a boy, Green was a compulsive collector, his room full of wooden patterns, matrices, tools and machine parts. At Harvard the collecting continued. By his mid-twenties he had to rent a warehouse to house these raw materials, with which he would make unusual juxtapositions, rearrangements and assemblies. Green had an obvious talent for the paste-up necessary to magazine production. Unlike paste-up, done at speed, the sculptural assemblages only emerged after patient cogitation and reflection. For Green, "the wood has to talk". He might handle the same object for months or even years before the final creation emerged.