An Island of Light1- 30 September 2026
Nancy Moore Bess
©All rights reserved
Nancy Moore Bess
©All rights reserved
Nancy Moore Bess
©All rights reserved

Nancy Moore Bess

c/o browngrotta arts

Basket weaving

Wilton, CT, USA

Utility, mystery and mastery

Nancy Moore Bess studied the craft of bamboo basketry in Japan, Hawaii and New York. Her pieces often feature baskets within baskets, using dyed bamboo with waxed linen and cotton to create forms that are closed and open simultaneously. “Japan has influenced my work in many ways, but to me traditional packaging, basketry and bamboo, along with the crossover of influences from all over the world, the vocabulary of defining beauty and craftsmanship all overlap. Much of my work is about the potential of mystery and containment in basketry,” she says. Nancy is the author of Bamboo in Japan and her work is held in permanent collections across the USA.

The sculptures presented for Homo Faber 2026 were woven from bamboo and dyed cane using an open hexagonal pattern, a traditional basketry weave especially prevalent in Japanese craft. The pattern was originally used in structures designed to hold rocks and stabilise riverbanks, and has been adapted for use in domestic vessels, packaging and everyday objects. Nancy’s pieces celebrate the utility and expressive potential of the weave in a new and expressive way that seeds intrigue. She uses the outer basket forms to imply that although there is something inside the vessels, the viewer is not allowed access to that space and its mysterious contents.

Discover her work

Nancy Moore Bess

c/o browngrotta arts

Basketweaver

Wilton, CT, USA

ADDRESS

Address upon request, Wilton, CT, USA

AVAILABILITY

By appointment only

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