Sculptural Basketry by Nolan Wright
“Each piece is the result of an organic, exploratory process. No two are the same — I couldn’t recreate one if I tried. I would be happy to make one for you with a similar feel though, if a piece that catches your eye is no longer available.”
About Me & My Work
I use traditional basketry techniques, primarily coiling and knotting, to make sculptural forms, using pine needles, waxed linen thread, and other cords and copper wire. Each piece is finished with a baked-in beeswax and paraffin coating to protect the work. The result is a firm shape, with a texture and feel like petrified wood.
It is a slow process. I begin by gathering southern longleaf pine needles fresh from young trees near my home in Columbia, South Carolina while they are still green. Then I wash and dry them indoors for several weeks before adding color with fabric dye and acrylic paint. Finally, I begin a piece, often with nothing more than a color palette and a general sense of a shape or gesture in mind. Knotting and coiling are both time consuming techniques, but there is a meditative quality to the doing of it that lends itself to the organic feel of the resulting work.
I don’t have an art degree but was lucky enough to grow up in a creative household. My mother was an artist and gallery owner who championed indigenous folk art and contemporary crafts in Tucson, Arizona where we lived. My father was a geologist and educator, but also created many of the displays in the gallery and did all of the color mixing and silk screening for my mother’s designs. I have been surrounded by and appreciated beauty, natural and human made, all my life as a result.
Pieces of my work have been selected for a number of national juried exhibits, including most recently: Small Expressions 2021 (Handweavers Guild of America (HGA)), Dogwood to Kudzu (HGA, 2020, First Prize), Fantastic Fibers 2021 and Fantastic Fibers 2020 (Yeiser Art Center, Paducah KY), Yarn, Rope, String (Fiber Art Network, 2021), and Excellence in Fiber V (Muskegon Museum of Art (MMA) in partnership with the Fiber Art Network, 2020).
Inspiration
The biggest inspiration for my work is the juxtaposition of shapes, textures, and colors that catch my eye in the world around me. Trees, twisted by the wind or that have interesting bark or exposed roots, tide pools, tree fungi, seed pods, rock formations, and such. It is not that I study them, and I do not try to recreate any specific object or scene. It is more that they resonate with something inside me at an emotional level as well as aesthetically, and I see their influence in the materials I choose and what happens as I work on a piece.
Gallery
Individual Works
“Resilient, Standing Proud”
12” (t) x 11” (w) x 11” (d)
Artist dyed and painted southern longleaf pine needles, coiled with waxed linen and Brazilian poly cord. Baked-in beeswax and paraffin finish.
“Shipwreck”
7” (t) x 20” (w) x 14” (d)
Artist dyed and painted southern longleaf pine needles, coiled with waxed linen and Brazilian poly cord. Knotted “growths” on the surface, top and bottom, using waxed linen and Brazilian poly cord. Baked-in beeswax and paraffin finish.
“Still Balancing”
6” (t) x 15” (w) x 14” (d)
Artist dyed and painted southern longleaf pine needles, coiled with waxed linen and Brazilian poly cord. Knotted center and inserts, using waxed linen and Brazilian poly cord. Baked-in beeswax and paraffin finish.
“Skirting the Issue”
8” (t) x 12” (w) x 12” (d)
Artist dyed and painted southern longleaf pine needles, coiled with waxed linen, Brazilian poly cord, and coated copper wire. Knotted “skirt” created in place, using waxed linen and nylon cord. Baked-in beeswax and paraffin finish.
“Color Study”
4” (t) x 12.5” (w) x 9” (d)
Artist dyed and painted southern longleaf pine needles, coiled with waxed linen. Baked-in beeswax and paraffin finish.
“Canyon Country”
6.5” (t) x 22” (w) x 19” (d)
Undyed southern longleaf pine needles, coiled with waxed linen. Additional forms knotted in place, integrated into the twists and turns of the canyon, using waxed linen and other cords. Baked-in beeswax and paraffin finish.
“Breaking Containment”
10” (t) x 10” (w) x 10” (d)
Artist dyed southern longleaf pine needles, coiled with waxed linen. Knotted center, back, and embellishments created using waxed linen, Brazilian poly cord, and nylon cord. Baked-in beeswax and paraffin finish.
“Counterpoint”
4.5” (t) x 16” (w) x 16” (d)
Artist dyed southern longleaf pine needles, coiled with waxed linen. Additional biomorphic shapes “sketched” on and coiled in place using pine needles and waxed linen. Baked-in beeswax and paraffin finish.
“Becalmed”
5” (t) x 12” (w) x 12” (d)
Undyed southern longleaf pine needles, coiled with waxed linen. Baked-in beeswax and paraffin finish.
“Tide Pool”
2.5” (t) x 6” (w) x 6” (d)
Knotted form with desiccated coral center, using waxed linen, fine wool and other yarns, and cotton embroidery thread. This piece does not have a baked-in finish.
“Barnacles”
5” (t) x 13” (w) x 9” (d)
Undyed southern longleaf pine needles, coiled with waxed linen. Knotted “growths” on the surface, using waxed linen. Baked-in beeswax and paraffin finish.
“Vortex”
4” (t) x 12” (w) x 12” (d)
Artist dyed southern longleaf pine needles, coiled with waxed linen. Baked-in beeswax and paraffin finish.
-
My sister taught me some macrame knots when we were teenagers, and I have benefitted from coiling workshops with Clay Burnette, Ferne Jacobs, and Nadine Spier. Beyond that, it has come down to years of trial and error, and paying attention to what the materials and the rhythms of the moment are trying to teach me.
-
I spend anywhere from a couple of days to several weeks or more coiling and knotting a single piece, not including the time gathering and preparing the materials.
-
That’s easy. Just send me your email address and I will be sure to let you know (see “Stay Current” form below).
-
I will never share your contact information with anyone else without your express authorization to do so.
-
I typically ship by UPS, and always send a tracking number so you know when to expect receipt. Shipping in the continental United States and insurance is included in the purchase price.
Frequently Asked Questions
Stay Current
Provide your email address and I will happily let you know when I post pictures of a new piece or am participating in an exhibition.
Contact
Don’t be shy. If you have questions about a piece you see here or my work generally, would like to discuss a possible commission or exhibition, or would like to just say hello, please use this form to do so.