A new exhibition celebrates the work of artist David Nash which gave Grizedale Forest the name of Forest for Sculpture.
From February 1978 to May 1978 David Nash and his young family came to Grizedale Forest where he undertook the second artist’s residency opportunity which helped give Grizedale its name as the first Forest for Sculpture.
During this period Nash made a number of key pieces which led on to and inspired further works beyond the residency.
“This residency gave me the opportunity to experience a forest coming out of winter into spring, three months of continuous focus without fitting the work around a day job,” said David.
“There were many fallen trees available as material and support from the forest management made them accessible. New ideas emerged which I was able to realise and take forward in the years to come. It was a very important time for me on many levels.”
Return to the Forest celebrates the work Nash produced during the winter and spring months of 1978 in a series of drawings, photographs and films; in some cases, the only record of the work as many pieces have been reclaimed by the forest over the decades.
Hazel Stone, arts development manager at Forestry England, said: “This exhibition will showcase for the first time drawings, sculptures and photographs made during this informative period.
“We are thrilled to be able to showcase this work for our visitors to see the impact of spending time in a working forest can have on an artist’s practice. This is something we continue today with our annual residency programme and as we come full circle, we thank David for helping us select the next artists to take up a residency in the forest to continue the Grizedale sculpture story.”
Showing in the exhibition space, Grizedale Residency February – May 1978 illustrates works Nash produced on his residency at Grizedale Forest and describes how they, in turn, influenced new ideas for works he made subsequently.
From his first Wood Quarry in north Wales, from which the Wooden Boulder was created, to a Wood Quarry in Japan where River Tunnel and Waterway were key works, this film celebrates how the legacy of the residency lived on for many years and is threaded through Nash’s practice.
The Wooden Boulder (also showing as part of the exhibition) follows Nash’s iconic boulder sculpture as it travels downstream from high in the hills above the Ffestiniog Valley, where in 1978, it was carved from the trunk of a storm-damaged 200-year-old oak.
Nash followed its engagement with weather, gravity and the seasons for nearly 30 years before it was presumed to have made its way to the sea, only for it to reappear some years later and lodge on a mudbank for two years from 2013 to 2015.
Not seen since, the story of the boulder remains a metaphor for life itself with the film taking us through seasons and years. Where it is today no one knows but as David Nash said: “It’s not lost, it’s wherever it is.”
