David Nash: Wildwood

Haines Gallery proudly presents Wildwood, an exhibition by the acclaimed UK artist David Nash. For over fifty years, Nash has developed a body of work that includes sculptures, installations, and works on paper, each exploring the nature of place and our relationship to the larger landscape.

 

Wildwood includes a selection of standing and wall-hung sculptures of carved and charred wood, created from fallen beech, oak, and redwood trees. Working with industrial tools such as the chainsaw, ax, and blowtorch, Nash teases out the inherent form and behavior of unseasoned wood, allowing its natural qualities to inform the final shape of his works. At the center of the exhibition is Three Red Sheaves (2013), an elegant sculpture comprising three slender redwood columns, measuring over nine feet tall and each created from a single piece of wood, which the artist has masterfully carved into an accordion fold of peaks. The work at once recalls organ pipes, the fluted columns of Classical architecture, and towering redwood trunks, while invoking the awe-inspiring experience of standing before such ancient growth.

Nash’s sculptures are complemented by Red and Black Dome (2008), an richly colored work on paper featuring hues that the artist associates with California. Red and Black Dome references a sculptural form that has appeared throughout Nash's practice — wooden domes and mounds transformed through charring and burning. The piece highlights his use of fire as both an aesthetic tool and as symbol of metamorphosis. Fire destroys, but in nature, it can also create the necessary conditions for growth and regeneration. 

 

Within an intimate exhibition space, Wildwood provides an opportunity for viewers to contemplate natural forms and phenomena, and reminds us of the beauty and elegance found in the outdoor environment.