Betsy Bauer Studio
For artist Betsy Bauer, creating her stones wrapped in Japanese-style knots has become an extension of her Zen Buddhism practice. “I’ve been increasingly going deeper in my Zen Buddhism as the outer world seems more chaotic,” says Bauer. Each piece consists of two elements: a rock taken from the landscape near her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and knots tied in a particular Japanese style, which nods to her ongoing study of that country’s art-making traditions. This series of work is the product of a recent interest in Japanese styles of folding and dyeing paper, which collided with her long-time habit of returning home from hikes in New Mexico with a souvenir rock. “What I also love about the Japanese aesthetic is the deep, honored connection with nature,” she says. “The wrapped rocks are my way of offering a combination of the art of Japanese knot tying with a slice of nature, to bring simplicity and beauty into a person’s home.”
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