Benicia artist Nikki Basch-Davis wants to bring people together for her current Gallery 621 exhibit “Connecting,” which she feels is lacking in the current political climate.

“It’s a difficult time for many,” she said. “There are a lot of heavy, sometimes negative feelings going back and forth. People that were friends are not friends anymore. For me, it was a time to remind everybody that we’re all connected by our own humanity.”

The title of the show refers to connecting through love and friendship, and Basch-Davis gets this across through a variety of works that express the relationships between friends, lovers, parents and children. The goal, Basch-Davis says, is to remind people of the good of human nature through these connections.

The exhibit features a variety of works, including clay sculptures and oil paintings— all done in the artist’s instantly recognizable German-expressionism-meets-American-social-realism style. Basch-Davis views art as one way to connect with people.

“We have a lot of good things to live for,” she said, “and art definitely contributes to that.”

Basch-Davis reflected on when she used to be a plein air painter and would have people come up to her when she was painting outdoors.

“I would have all kinds of people stop by,” she said. “They would be young people, old people, artists or non-artists. Many of them were people that would never pay any attention to me on a daily basis, but they would stop and look at what I was doing and connect with me. They had a certain appreciation for what I was doing, and that was a connection that I would never have with these young people, with different culture, with different views on what’s nice or what’s not nice. We were on the same place, we connected, we found a place of friendship, so I think art is very unique in that way.”

With February being the month of love, Basch-Davis captures this idea of connection through paintings that express the idea of friendship, love and acts of kindness. The prominent painting in the gallery, titled “I Kid You Not,” features two senior women sharing a laugh over milk and cookies.

“I was smiling inside the whole time (when painting),” Basch-Davis said of the piece. “I totally emerged in their moment and being together sharing cookies. It made me happy when I was doing it.”

Other paintings are inspired by personal incidents that took place. The painting, “I’ll Have the Chocolate Mint,” depicts a scene of Basch-Davis’ grandchildren at Double Rainbow Cafe. As she was stepping out the back door, the artist noticed her 5-year-old grandson pick up his 3-year-old sister to elevate her above the counter so she could see the ice cream flavors and pick the one she wanted. As the title suggests, she chose mint chocolate chip.

“To me, that’s an incredible story,” Basch-Davis said. “He’s 5 and he wants an ice cream, but it’s more important to him that she chooses something she likes. There’s a lot of emotions in expressing these stories.”

One thing that Basch-Davis enjoyed about putting the show together was that it was not labor intensive but rather fun.

“You have certain emotions when you work,” she said. “Sometimes it’s a struggle and you grind your teeth, but in doing this show, I had a really good time.”

A reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m., tomorrow— Saturday, Feb. 11— at Gallery 621, located at 309 First St. This event is free, open to the public and will feature refreshments.

In keeping with the theme of the show, Basch-Davis hopes that people will come together at the reception.

“Within our communities, we can create many groups and events that bring us together,” she said.

The exhibit will be on display through Sunday, March 5. Gallery 621 is open from noon to 5 p.m., Thursdays through Sundays. For more information, visit gallery621.com.