Bronze Age Gold from Wales

David Nash was born in England, and has lived and worked in Blaenau Ffestiniog in north Wales since 1967. Settling in Capel Curig, he acquired an old chapel, Capel Rhiw, for his studio.

Nash is conscious of the environment, believing that, as “we are all in and of the environment”, we have all impacted upon it.The natural world, the landscape and trees form the focus of Nash’s work. This includes living trees as well as trees that have fallen naturally or are diseased. To make his sculptures, Nash cuts, carves, burns and manipulates the wood. His work combines abstract and figurative forms.

Into this single piece of beech wood, Nash carved eight planes. Using a chainsaw, he carefully cut deep horizontal slits into the wood to make the multiple cuts. The column was then left to dry naturally, this led to the formation of cracks and warps that create the different textures and shapes.