David Nash is a sculptor and land artist whose work invites direct connection with nature and prompts us to consider the relationship between humankind and the environment.
Born in Esher in Surrey, Nash has had a close relationship with North Wales throughout his life. As a child, he regularly visited his grandparents in Llanffestiniog, and after graduating from Kingston College of Art in 1967, he moved to the area permanently. The following year, he purchased a disused Methodist chapel in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Capel Rhiw, where he still works today. In the intervening years, he has forged a close connection between his artistic practice and the landscape and nature that surround him.
Nash’s primary material is wood, which he often works on the spot where the tree has fallen or was felled – a site he refers to as a ‘wood quarry’. He fashions his sculptures using chainsaws rather than chisels (though did use hand tools in his earlier career), and in many pieces, he uses blow torches to char the wood, thus altering both its makeup and colour. Other works are cast in bronze.
As well as creating pieces for indoor display, Nash famously works within the landscape. One of his best-known creations is Ash Dome, a circle of 22 ash trees planted at a secret location near his home in 1977 which have been growing ever since. This is a collaboration between the artist and his environment, embodying both the force of nature and its fragility – because over four decades since it was planted, the work has recently been threatened by ash dieback.
Mari Griffith is an art historian who has worked in the field of museums and galleries for 30 years, developing and overseeing learning and interpretation provision for public art collections and exhibitions, including at the National Gallery, National Gallery of Art and Royal Academy of Arts. Following a period working internationally on art and heritage interpretation, she is now a freelance writer, editor and translator – focusing mostly on art.