David Nash is best known for his sculptures in wood and his environmental works situated in nature. He uses fallen tree trunks that he cuts, carves, burns, blasts, and sands into monolithic and totem-like forms. Made variously from oak, elm, redwood, and lime wood, all found in Wales, Nash’s sculptures fluctuate between organic and geometric shapes and range in height from two to eight feet. The wood is often charred, which gives the surface a rich texture that is both rough and elegant. The process of charring, or burning, transforms wood into carbon (a mineral), thus altering not only the surface texture, but also the basic nature of the material. Box Cross and the three-part sculpture Cube, Sphere, Pyramid (2000), on view in this lobby, were created using this charring technique. The drawings that accompany Cube, Sphere, Pyramid were made with the charcoal residue left over after burning the sculptures.

Curated by Vesela Sretenovic
image: installation view