David Nash RA has long been recognised as one of Britain’s most significant sculptors working with natural materials. At Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, visitors can experience his work in two distinct but deeply connected forms: the permanent outdoor installation Black Mound, and his inclusion in the current gallery exhibition, AFTERIMAGE.
While the former is a physically imposing, charred oak structure that feels rooted in the land itself, the latter offers a glimpse into Nash’s more ephemeral, situational practice, one that is captured and remembered primarily through photography.
In the Landscape: Black Mound
In contrast, Nash’s Black Mound is a permanent installation at Tremenheere yet it too is shaped by natural forces. Formed from clustered, charred oak spheres arranged in a gently rising mound, the sculpture seems to emerge from the landscape rather than sit on it. Created using a chainsaw and blowtorch, Black Mound is both deliberate and elemental: a work that feels timeless and rooted, yet always subject to the slow transformations of the environment around it.
Set in a glade surrounded by ancient woodland, Black Mound feels as though it has emerged from the earth itself. The deep blackened surfaces of the oak forms contrast vividly with the vibrant greens and purples of the landscape, drawing the eye and yet never disrupting the peace of its surroundings. Whether glimpsed through branches or approached directly, the sculpture invites a moment of pause and quiet contemplation.
Nash’s sensitivity to place is clear here: the forms do not dominate the space but respond to it, evoking natural phenomena like standing stones, charred stumps, or ancient relics returning to soil.
In the Gallery: Through The Trunk, Up The Branch (1985)
On view as part of Afterimage, Through The Trunk, Up The Branch (1985) is a photographic record of a now-lost work carved from a dead elm tree in Tipperary, Ireland. Privately commissioned, the sculpture once stood approximately 3.6 metres tall.
The work shown here, only through its photographic documentation, speaks to Nash’s early exploration of material and form as a process tied to place and circumstance. As the tree is no longer standing, the photograph becomes both evidence and artwork: a quiet witness to an act of sculptural intervention that once reshaped a living space.
Its presence in Afterimage aligns with the show’s broader theme: art that exists primarily through its trace, its documentation, or the memory of a gesture. The exhibition, curated by Alastair and Fleur Mackie, invites viewers to consider how subtle, site-specific acts resonate even after they are gone.
A Life in Wood, Fire, and Form
David Nash has been working with wood for over five decades, carving, burning, and shaping his materials into organic and geometric forms that speak to cycles of growth, decay, and renewal. A graduate of Chelsea School of Art, he has lived and worked in North Wales for most of his life. He was awarded an OBE in 2004 and has exhibited internationally at venues including Yorkshire Sculpture Park and Kew Gardens. His work is held in over 80 public collections worldwide.
Nash’s practice also includes “living sculptures,” in which trees are shaped over time, as well as a large body of drawings and paintings that explore similar themes of materiality, landscape, and transformation.
Two Works, One Vision
Together, Through The Trunk, Up The Branch and Black Mound offer a powerful window into the breadth of David Nash’s practice. One is long gone, preserved only through image. The other remains in situ, shaped by fire, oak, and Cornish air.
Both reflect a lifelong conversation with nature, time, and the traces we leave behind.
AFTERIMAGE, curated by Alastair and Fleur Mackie continues until 2nd August, Tues-Sat, 11am-4pm. Also featuring: Jack Whitefield · Amy and Oliver Thomas-Irvine · Oscar Santillan · David Rickard · Abigail Reynolds · Oliver Raymond-Barker · Tony Plant · Mike Perry · Katie Paterson · David Nash · Alastair and Fleur Mackie · Antti Laitinen · Jeremy Hutchison · Jasper Goodall · Matt Calderwood · Julie Brook
