British artist David Nash works to draw distinctions between the inside
space of a museum and the outside space of the rural land on which he
likes to work. Nash is an ardent environmentalist, and his art
demonstrates a sensitivity to the materials he favors, such as wood,
slate, and stone. But it is not a simple evocation or re-creation of
nature that interests him. "While natural branch and twig shapes are
beautiful in themselves," he says, "it is transformation that creates
meaning." Both Standing Frame (1987) in the Garden and Nature to Nature
III (1987) (installed here) create geometric forms from organic
materials, producing a union of the ideal and the natural. That union
is temporary, however, since nature will continue to work changes on
his sculptures.
Collection Walker Art
Center, Minneapolis
Gift of Star Tribune and
Cowles Media
Foundation, 1987