David Nash is a very special sculptor, and the BBC programme about him which was on Thursday 17 Feb 2011 was an excellent appraisal of this thoughtful man. We were lucky enough to meet him at Charelston a few years ago, and were impressed by his lack of bombast, and gentle integrity. His extraordinary sculptures are the result of a chain saw carving a piece of wood. His work is to be seen and is collected internationally, but the ones which are quite site specific and inaccessible to any but the privileged few, are the circles of planted trees which he works on over many years. An example is Ash Dome near to his studio and home in North Wales.
The picture above was taken in September 2004. The following was Nash's conception of the project, recorded in 1983 but planted in 1977.
This evolving and gradual, painstaking process is very special. His single minded attention to trees as a source of inspiration and as material, has been maintained without deviation. His drawings are strong, considered and elegiac, illuminating the strength of the wood in which he works. I still can't believe I didn't buy the small drawing of Pyramid, Sphere, Cube which he donated to Charleston for the Quentin Follies some years ago.
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