David Nash at Kew Gardens

Book excerpt: This book marks the major exhibition David Nash at Kew Gardens opening in June 2012 through to April 2013. One of the UK's most prolific creators of ecological art, David Nash will produce and exhibit his work across the Gardens, with sculptures, installations, drawings and film in place throughout the Gardens, glasshouses, and exhibition spaces. Nash will work at Kew on a 'wood quarry' from April 2012, creating new pieces for the exhibition using trees from the Gardens that have come to the end of their natural life, and this ongoing work will form part of the exhibition.In a career spanning 40 years, Nash has created over 2,000 sculptures out of wood, many of them monumental in scale. These sculptures are sometimes carved using a chainsaw or axe, or partially burned to produce a charred surface. Through his work, he has gained a deep understanding of the properties of trees and the artistic process itself is, for Nash, deeply collaborative - between the artist, his material, and the natural world.Extensively illustrated, this book will give a unique insight into Nash's' art and life, and encourage readers to engage with the sculptures and their relation to nature, and the beautiful setting of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.