Nancy Basket is a South Carolina artisan whose name and expertise as a craftswoman comes from her Cherokee grandmother. Nancy's art includes baskets, cards, masks, sculptures, paper, lamps, and more made from natural products such as kudzu, cattails, pine needles, corn husks, and tree bark. Her creations have been featured in dozens of museums, documentaries, and films, including the Oscar award-winning Last of the Mohicans. Nancy teaches basketmaking, papermaking, and Native American crafts at schools and guilds all over the country and is frequently commissioned to make custom pieces.
"I'm always experimenting with form and function," says Nancy, "always exploring what natural resources are available and how I can adapt them to serve some purpose." She converted an old livery stable into her art studio, for example, using bales of kudzu vine to form the walls and insulation--a project that was featured in Smithsonian Magazine. Always sensitive to the environment, Nancy incorporates a lot of recycling into her creations and tries to pass on her ancestors' respect and appreciation for nature in all of her creations and presentations.
We are delighted to share her work with you here. |
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