April 2021 Featured Artist
Artist Uses Her Creativity to Celebrate Community & Nature
Interview with Installation Artist & Sculptor
Basha Ruth Nelson
Basha in her Studio
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Basha Ruth Nelson’s work is intuitive. Whether sculpture, construction or installation, the hallmark is the creation of unity between form and space in which her pieces live. Her sculptures - constructions in paper, stainless steel, aluminum and copper - engage the viewer through surface and scale, looking at ordinary materials in a new way. Currently, she follows her heart and deep commitment to Freedom. She creates interactive installations and performances as part of her ongoing Freedom Project.
Basha’s work has been exhibited widely. Her solo exhibitions include: 60 Washington Square East Galleries, Flemington Gallery of the Arts, US Embassy (Nassau, Bahamas), Noho Gallery, Woodstock Artists Association and Museum, Greene County Council on the Arts, Manhattanville College, Pritzker Studio & Gallery, The Project Space (New York City), Hudson Valley MOCA (formerly HVCCA), Cunneen Hackett Cultural Center. Group exhibits include: The North Miami Museum and Art Center, Continuum Gallery, Grove House, Norton Museum of Art, Woodstock Historical Society, Akin Museum, Hammond Museum, Queen City 15, and The Trolley Barn. International exhibits include: Matinee Art Gallery (Nassau, Bahamas), NY Carlsberg Glyptotek Museum (Copenhagen, Denmark), Florence Biennale, Procidamerica (Italy). Basha was invited to the 2020 Venice Biennial for Architecture and Sculpture and the upcoming edition of 2022. Basha is a recipient of the Lorenzo il Magnifico Sculpture Award from Florence Biennale and the Wilfred McGibben Award, Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach, FL. Her work is included in many public and private collections. |
Myrna Beth Haskell, executive editor, spoke with Basha about her installation work and indoor metal sculptures.
What was the inspiration behind The Peekskill Project?
What was the inspiration behind The Peekskill Project?
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The place is so beautiful, but when I would go there, no one seemed to be looking at it. No one was really experiencing it. People might be playing ball, eating or talking, but no one was actually stopping and really observing. I wanted to have a piece there that framed the Bear Mountains and the Hudson River.
Originally, [the installation] was there through Hudson Valley MOCA, and it was only supposed to be there for a year. But the town wanted it, so it’s there permanently now. It gives me great pleasure to see people enjoy it. I saw a photo of people sitting around my sculpture watching the fireworks. I was also excited when the Peekskill Exurbanist contacted me to ask if they could use it in their logo. Of course, I gave them permission. My favorite story, though, happened one day when I was there [exploring the area by myself]. A woman ran up to the piece and yelled out to her friend, ‘Now I’m home!’ This touched me deeply, so I approached her and told her that I was the artist who had created it. She told me she used to come to the park all the time but had moved away. For me, an experience like this makes everything about being an artist worthwhile. |
The Peekskill Project: Beyond (Riverfront Green Park)
Stainless Steel: 10’ h x 7’ w x 1’ d Photo Credit: Daniel James (Instagram) |
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Communion Installation (Private Collector, Vermont)
Aluminum, Copper: 12' h x 5' w x 1' d |
"Since much of my education and experience was spent being surrounded by New York City's skyscrapers, a passion for vertical shapes is my primary artistic direction. Trees, curls from ocean spray, the curves of mountains and waves are inspirations from other places I have lived - the Bahamas and Woodstock, New York. All of these are in my heart and form my sense of place." ~ Basha Ruth Nelson |
Please share some specific considerations you must address before creating a large, outdoor installation, such as vegetation growth, ground cover, etc.
I learned over time that you have to think very carefully about the surroundings.
If it’s an outdoor piece, I’m always thinking of where it’s going to live. I initially walk the site and talk to the people. I have to really examine the location. Is it going to be painted? If so, what kind of paint? What’s the lighting like? What’s the ground like? From that, I have a conceptual idea in mind.
I create drawings to start. Then, I take the drawings to a fabricator. I need a fabricator who understands what metals can work for a particular project as well as the weight of the base in relation to the sculpture. Sometimes the fabricator is the installer and sometimes not. I have learned that I must work with people who have the same mindset but are really experts in what they do.
I learned over time that you have to think very carefully about the surroundings.
If it’s an outdoor piece, I’m always thinking of where it’s going to live. I initially walk the site and talk to the people. I have to really examine the location. Is it going to be painted? If so, what kind of paint? What’s the lighting like? What’s the ground like? From that, I have a conceptual idea in mind.
I create drawings to start. Then, I take the drawings to a fabricator. I need a fabricator who understands what metals can work for a particular project as well as the weight of the base in relation to the sculpture. Sometimes the fabricator is the installer and sometimes not. I have learned that I must work with people who have the same mindset but are really experts in what they do.
Copper Stream (Clove Church, Saugerties, NY)
Copper: 7' h x 10" w x 2' d © Basha Ruth Nelson |
Circle of Hope (Private Collector)
Painted carbon steel: 10' h x 8' w x 4' d © Basha Ruth Nelson |
Would you like to share a problem you had to solve during an installation process?
When the Peekskill piece seemed to be finished, my fabricator gave me a call to come and see it. When I first looked at it, I said it was exactly what I wanted. But then...he touches it, and it starts to move. So, this was a big problem we had to solve. The solution was to create steel piping that goes around it on both sides. This wound up enhancing the piece. It’s also screwed in from underneath.
Basha explained that sometimes it’s the surrounding elements that need some loving care.
After the Peekskill Project had been installed, I saw that the ground had eroded around the base. Even though it’s not my responsibility, I will fix that. I’m going there to fill it in so that the ellipse is just sitting on the ground.
There was another piece I created in Connecticut that was installed in a private backyard in a rocky area. When I went back to the property, it seemed that some of the rocks had been moved. So, I worked with the rocks until I was satisfied that they melded better with the sculpture.
When the Peekskill piece seemed to be finished, my fabricator gave me a call to come and see it. When I first looked at it, I said it was exactly what I wanted. But then...he touches it, and it starts to move. So, this was a big problem we had to solve. The solution was to create steel piping that goes around it on both sides. This wound up enhancing the piece. It’s also screwed in from underneath.
Basha explained that sometimes it’s the surrounding elements that need some loving care.
After the Peekskill Project had been installed, I saw that the ground had eroded around the base. Even though it’s not my responsibility, I will fix that. I’m going there to fill it in so that the ellipse is just sitting on the ground.
There was another piece I created in Connecticut that was installed in a private backyard in a rocky area. When I went back to the property, it seemed that some of the rocks had been moved. So, I worked with the rocks until I was satisfied that they melded better with the sculpture.
Flow
Aluminum: 8’ h x 5' w x 5' d © Basha Ruth Nelson |
Cascade (Private Collector)
Aluminum, Copper: 8’ h x 6’ w x 3.5’ d © Basha Ruth Nelson |
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What do you like about working with metal?
For my wall installations, I use roofing material - aluminum and copper flashing. When I discovered that material, it was like heaven opened up! I love the tactile sense of this material – being able to create shapes with my hands. I use special scissors that were my grandfather’s. He owned a coat manufacturing company. When he got very sick, my mother took it over. When she closed the factory, she gave these scissors to me. Basha shows me a pair of industrial-strength scissors. I can easily cut the metal to the width I want; plus, there is the personal story and history behind using them that I love. Basha's creative process for her indoor, metal sculptures: I always hang one piece up first. Then, I look at it up on the wall and decide what should come next. |
Emerging Installation (Noho Gallery, NYC)
Aluminum, Copper: 10’ h x 13’ w x 5’ d © Basha Ruth Nelson |
Equilibrium (Hammond Museum)
Galvanized Pipe Frame: 8’ 2” h x 39” w / Solid Wood Base: 4’ x 4’ x 3.5” d Eight Individual Aluminum Metal Strips: 11’ l x 4” w One Formed Aluminum Metal Strip: 10’ l x 6” w © Basha Ruth Nelson |
So, the material speaks to you about how to move forward as opposed to doing a drawing first in these instances.
Exactly. Any future plans or projects you’d like to share? During the pandemic, I wasn’t working in my studio. I am dying to get back to my studio. I’m in an exhibit at the Hammond Museum that’s there until June. One of my sculptures got knocked down in a wild storm, and I need to repair it. As part of my Freedom Project, I’m partnering with a colleague and friend of mine, Denis Douglas, a wonderful songwriter and musician. One of the things I wanted to do is to capture what people were writing about freedom – their thoughts and feelings. I am interested in what divides our country. I will narrate what people have written and tell stories about freedom. This is a collaborative and ongoing project bringing different art forms together to tell a story. |
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In the above 2016 video, Basha talks about the inspiration behind her
Walls of Freedom Project while community members participate in this interactive exhibition at the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in Peekskill. |
Walls of Freedom Project (HVMOCA, Peekskill NY)
Hudson Valley Museum of Contemporary Art [formerly HVCCA] 9’ h x 34’ w x by 18’ d approx. © Basha Ruth Nelson |
Where do you find sanctuary?
Years ago, I had gotten myself rundown and sick. I was traveling for work and also a primary caregiver for my [late] husband who had suffered several heart attacks. My doctor told me that I should meditate twice a day for 20 minutes. I said, ‘I don’t have 20 minutes.’
So, I started to use these colorful, three-minute sand timers to help me meditate. These short meditations did the trick. I watch the sand go through the hourglass, and I’m in the moment. It works for me – it’s very visual. I’ve since found out that research is finding that three minutes of conscious meditation gives you the same benefits as longer meditation sessions.
Years ago, I had gotten myself rundown and sick. I was traveling for work and also a primary caregiver for my [late] husband who had suffered several heart attacks. My doctor told me that I should meditate twice a day for 20 minutes. I said, ‘I don’t have 20 minutes.’
So, I started to use these colorful, three-minute sand timers to help me meditate. These short meditations did the trick. I watch the sand go through the hourglass, and I’m in the moment. It works for me – it’s very visual. I’ve since found out that research is finding that three minutes of conscious meditation gives you the same benefits as longer meditation sessions.
