“Mirror Mirror,” a painting of a young woman looking at her reflection, was created by Nikki Basch-Davis and can be viewed along with her other works at Benicia Public Library for the show “Moments.” (Painting by Nikki Basch-Davis)

As you read this, the Marilyn Citron O’Rourke Gallery at the Benicia Public Library is filled with “moments,” that is to say, moments created by local plein air painter and Gallery 621 member Nikki Basch-Davis.

Basch-Davis has a style that easily catches the eyes of anyone in the same room as her works. Her paintings capture everything from landscapes to people in a manner that is colorful, introspective and unique. One can view her style as realism meets German expressionism. However, her work is not limited to just paintings. She also creates sculptures and even poetry, all of which can currently be viewed at the library’s current art exhibition “Moments: Paintings, Sculptures and Poems by Nikki Basch-Davis.”

The show is just a sample of Basch-Davis’ work, which she has been creating since she was a young child.

“You either pound on the piano or you build castles in the sand or you draw stick figures the minute you can hold a pencil,” she said. “I was always drawn to create an image on paper.”

Basch-Davis’ passion for artistry took her to Jerusalem’s Bezalel Art Institute where she studied graphic arts. She later studied painting at London’s Royal College of Art and moved to California in the ‘70s to pursue her creative skills even further. She started off doing strictly 2-D paintings, but she then started producing 3-D works like sculptures.

“You kind of want to see whatever you produce on a flat surface in a three-dimensional way,” she said. “My figures became very much like my paintings. You try one thing, you do it as well as you think you can and you’re always drawn to try something else just to challenge yourself.”

Basch-Davis sees creating art as a way to clear her mind from everything else happening in her life and the world itself.

“If you go on the computer, you get upset about everything that’s going on and you kind of carry it with you,” she said. “(Making art) is the one time that you really truly forget about all that. The way you can totally immerse yourself in that activity of creating something and everything disappears for a few hours, that’s a very unique thing to be able to do with any kind of activity.”

In the last few years, Basch-Davis has done a lot of figure painting but she has not showed her work in any galleries. Likewise, she says people are unaware that she also does clay sculptures and writes poetry, so she chose to highlight her works in a library show.

“Moments” captures exactly what the title promises. With her paintbrush and canvas as well as modeling clay, Basch-Davis has created snapshots of people experiencing different emotions. One wall has a row of paintings with different subjects getting increasingly older with each successive work. One creation is a clay sculpture of a mother embracing her infant child. Another painting features a little girl drinking soup at a dinner table with only her blue teddy bear. Another painting is of a young woman gazing at her reflection in a mirror. Many of the works even have poems next to them.

Basch-Davis said she wanted to go beyond just providing well-made images. She wants the show to elicit emotional responses from people.

“I hope there will be an emotional reaction rather than just appreciation for the craft,” she said. “I really like to connect. I believe that art is one of the ways that we can connect and bridge our differences. The emotional connection with others through my work seems to satisfy me the most.”

Ultimately, Basch-Davis hopes her show inspires others to create. Recently, she came across a high school junior who said she used to paint but no longer had the time to do so anymore.

“This is where you get regenerated and you go to that creative side,” she said. “I hope it reminds people that everybody has something in them that can be called creative, and to pursue it is probably one of the most important things we can do.”

“Moments” is on display at the library, located at 150 East L St., through July 27. A reception will be held from 3 to 5 p.m., Saturday, July 2. Additionally, a poetry reading will be held from 3 to 5 p.m., Saturday, July 23, in which roughly a dozen poets— including past Poets Laureate Joel Fallon and Lois Requist— will be reading poems they have written inspired by Basch-Davis’ works. Both events are free and open to the public. For more information, call the library at 746-4343.

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