GALLERY HOURS AND RECEPTION The gallery dates for Roger Nass’ exhibit are July 7-28. The Owatonna Arts Center is open 1-5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. An opening reception for the show is scheduled 1-4 p.m. on Sunday, July 9. a95c6381-a6f1-4a61-b791-2e0fe7d70ab5
Artist Roger Nass is returning to his roots with his upcoming show at the Owatonna Arts Center.
Nass practices the traditional art of wood turning, sculpting wood through the use of a lathe. His show, which officially opens July 7, includes bowls, urns and a variety of other objects ranging from tiny to massive in scale.
Although he now makes his home in Ames, Iowa, the artist originally hails from Owatonna. He practiced carpentry in his youth, though he finds his current woodworking venture altogether different and more challenging.
Nass left Owatonna decades ago, but he still knows many people in the community. Two years ago, while attending a Marian High School reunion, he reconnected with his old classmate who put him in touch with OAC Artistic Director Silvan Durben. Nass said he’s turned down invitations from other galleries, but he was interested in the opportunity to show his work in his old hometown.
Durben highlighted the “natural look” Nass has achieved with his wood turnings.
“He gets very wonderful and unusual graining,” said Durben.
Nass’ goal is to preserve the wood as it looked while the tree was growing, exposing the inner beauty that people rarely get to see. Wooden objects are often made from tree trunks, which offer structural stability. Nass prefers the crown of the tree, which is harder to work with but offers a more complex, visually appealing grain.
He’s particularly proud of a massive black walnut bowl in the show, which displays an intricate feather-like pattern where the tree’s limbs once joined.
While he strives to make the most beautiful objects possible, Nass considers himself a practical person and wants every piece to have a function, whether or not it’s ever used.
“I want my things to have function for the most part, although the problem is if they get too attractive people don’t want to use it functionally. They just want to display it. In my mind, it has a function. In their mind, it probably won’t be used,” said Nass.
There’s a story behind each piece, and he remembers the trees they all came from.
Sometimes people call him to report a downed tree in the area. Sometimes he simply investigates the sound of a chainsaw in the distance. Farmers have also been a reliable source for him. A boxelder tree may be an oversized weed in their fields, but to him the scarlet banded wood beneath its unassuming bark is choice material to work with.
Most property owners who’ve lost a tree will happily let him take his pick of the wood, as they’re just going to pay someone to remove it anyway. Often he takes more than he can use, and shares it with other members of his woodworking club.
While turning a piece of Bradford pear that fell in downtown Ames, Nass discovered one side of the wood had turned a sickly dark gray color. Since he got to the tree before it had the chance to rot, he suspects the split coloration is due to a lightning strike. Seeing potential in the marred wood, he created a series of 10 wooden vases, each 10% smaller than the last. The vases rest on a base that Nass created from wood supplied by his cousin in Owatonna. With the new exhibit, the piece has made its way back to its place of origin.
While Nass has many avenues for finding raw material, he will never buy it.
“That’s a policy I have. I will not buy wood. I will put the labor in to get it, but I won’t buy it,” said Nass.
He prefers to get a tree as soon after it hits the ground as possible, fresher than any wood he could ever buy — older, drier wood is more likely to crack as it’s turned. Plus, when there’s so much available wood that’s just going to rot, he doesn’t see the point in paying for it.
It’s one of several principles that guides his process. Nass will also never dye, paint or stain the wood, preferring to bring out its native colors by soaking it in natural oils — though he will sometimes use pigmented epoxy to fill a void in the wood.
Nass also never names his creations.
“We took our first kid home as Baby Nass. We didn’t even have a name for our first kid. Some guys name everything, I don’t. To me, the wood speaks for itself,” he said.
He’s not interested in selling his work, though he sometimes gives pieces away. Nass has made a large number of wooden urns, which he typically gives to people he knows well. However, he’s received requests for urns from people he’s never met. In one case, a man asked for five urns, for himself and his entire family to be interred in one day. Instead of accepting payment for them, Nass asked the man to donate $300 a piece to a charity of his choice.
For Nass, wood turning is a form of preservation. Of all the ways trees wind up in his possession, the most unfortunate is undoubtedly emerald ash borer, the invasive species carving a swath through North American forests. Nass has lost 20 trees on his property to the insect. He appreciates the opportunity to make something beautiful from the wood, but the loss still weighs on him.
“The next generation of turners will never be able to do this. It’s gone, and it will be gone for a long time,” said Nass.
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