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Martin Puryear identifies with a Minimalist emphasis on "the power of the simple single thing as opposed to a full-blown complex array of things." However, he rejects the industrial materials commonly associated with the movement, in favor of those more organic in nature. Puryear learned carpentry and craft traditions from his travels to West Africa, and basketry and quillwork in Scandinavia. Maroon is one of the artist's first works in which he incorporates tar over wire mesh, achieving the artist's desire to "mediat[e] between a feeling of massiveness and fragility to reach a point of extreme vulnerability." With its bulbous shape, circular wooden cap, and variety of materials and textures, Maroon reflects Puryear's ability to create subtle contradictions within a singular form.