1. David Nash was born in Esher, Surrey in 1945. He studied at Kingston College of Art (1963-64), Brighton College of Art (1964-67) and Chelsea School of Art (1969-70). After finishing school at Brighton, Nash moved to North Wales before returning to Chelsea for one year in 1969. In Wales he purchased a chapel which has remained both his studio and home ever since. Wales was ideal for Nash, because he was surrounded by abundant resources and plenty of time to further develop his wood works.
2. The most interesting thing I discovered about David Nash was that he uses a chainsaw and axe as his primary tools as well as using a blowtorch in many of his works.David Nash uses wood as a medium for all his works. His interest in working with wood began as a child, when Nash helped clear and replant a forest his father owned. He also worked for the Commercial Forestry Group, where he learned about many kinds of wood. He is known for doing land art involving wood that remains in nature, as well as displaying his wood sculpture in studios. He carves wood from fallen trees as well as creates sculptures from growing plants.
3. Nash first decided to move to Wales after graduating from Brighton College due to the extremely low cost of living. In these years he experimented with making tower like sculptures and some very abstract works. He used paint to give more detail to these sculptures as well, which was unique to this period for Nash. He continued experimenting with this tower theme when he returned to Chelsea School of Art in 1969-1970.
4. Upon graduating from Chelsea, Nash decided to experiment with some smaller more natural lengths of wood rather than pre-cut joists. He found ways of using nature to hold his projects together rather than carpentry. Three Dandy Scuttlers was actually inspired by a picture Nash found of three deer hunters awkwardly stalking their prey.
5. The frame became a common theme for Nash’s works after graduating from Chelsea. Nash enjoyed how the natural form of the branch contrasted with the constructed part. He was also fascinated with the picture the viewer sees through the frame and how the piece frames a different picture from every different angle.
6.A Useful Pig- Humurous legs give living look, hairlike finish
7. Many of Nash's exhibitions are formed from work he has made and on themes he picked up in the general location of the place he made it, using local wood. He has used this approach in shows in America, Japan and Poland. For Nash's sculpture he uses unseasoned wood, which alters after his intervention, cracking and twisting as it drys. As you can see here the sculptures of the two rough balls resembles the landscape of a quarry in Northern Wales.
8. Examples cracking twisting effects
9. For these sculptures oak and chestnut were the woods used being local to the area. The sphere, cube, and pyramid are placed so that the effects of the light change according to the time of day, the season and the weather. The charred affect, when viewed with the right lighting gives the effect that the objects are not 3-D. The woods here are returned to where they were grown, making reference to life and death through this sculpture. The pyramid, sphere, and square are a theme we see repeated many of Nash’s Works ( Back to First Slide)
10. Nash is perhaps best known for his sculptures involving living elements. The Ash Dome is among Nash’s most popular works. It consists of a ring of 22 ash trees planted deep in the woods near Nash’s home in Wales. It was planted in 1977 and is still growing today. Growing up working for the Commercial Forestry Group, Nash learned that he hated planting trees in straight rows, which is very evident here. Nash is very secretive about the location of the Ash Dome and when he brings photographers there he leads winds back and forth through the woods to ensure the safety of the Ash Domes location.
11. It began in 1978 when Nash got the opportunity to cut down an oak tree for safety reasons in North Wales. Nash cut the a large ‘boulder’ out of the tree with intentions of displaying it in his studio. However, he decided instead to place it a nearby stream instead. The boulder moved very little in the first few years and eventually came to a resting place for eight years, taking on the appearance of a real boulder. The boulder remained in the stream and eventually continued its path when the river rose. In 1994 the boulder was resting next to the bridge where the small stream meets the much larger Dwyrd river. David Nash said, “I did not expect it to move into the Dwyryd river in my lifetime”. In November 2002 the boulder disappeared until it was spotted in June 2003 over 5 km away. This was the last sighting. When asked about this project Nash said, “It is not lost. It is wherever it is”.
12,13,14,15,16
17. In 1999, Nash was elected as a Royal Academician along with being Appointed Research Fellow, University of Northumbria, Newcastle and Awarded Honorary Doctorate in Art & Design, Kingston University. David Nash continues to live at his home in Wales and make sculptures. Nash gives lectures to art students at colleges throughout the U.K. and is regarded as one of the most respected land art sculptors in the world.