Dawn Bassett

Master Plasterer

Medford, Oregon

Dawn Bassett’s journey into fine art is anything but conventional. Raised in the remote mountains, far from artistic influences, she thought a career in the arts seemed as distant as a walk on the moon. She didn’t attend art school, yet her vivid imagination and creativity have always been part of who she is.

Instead, Dawn found her teacher in a material. Through global residencies and apprenticeships with master plasterers in Paris, Rome, Lacoste and Marrakech, she has spent nearly two decades learning the ancient art of architectural plaster, and she fell for Moroccan tadelakt, a 2,000-year-old medium of polished lime plaster.

To Dawn, plaster is a partner rather than a surface. She works with oxides and pigments, building texture and depth by hand, and carries the material beyond walls and traditional techniques into wall sculpture that becomes a modern language for storytelling.

Two of her pieces greet residents at the Stellar Apartments in South Lake Union, and she has been featured on Seattle Channel’s Art Zone.