“damp and dry
burnt and buried
wood is given
we did not make it
in air it cracks
in fire it burns
in water it floats
in earth returns”
These words by David Nash contain the essence of his work as a sculptor; creating pieces, always in wood, shaping living trees or carving ones that have died naturally or been felled for a reason. Some of his works are planned as “growing” works which change organically over time, such as his Ash Dome – others as “disappearing” works that will erode and decay such as his Wooden Boulder, begun in 1978, which involves the journey of a large wooden sphere from the North Wales river to the Atlantic Ocean and back again via the estuary of the River Dwyryd, last seen in 2015.
Wooden Boulder on its journey
Ash Dome in a secret location in Wales
Annie Proulx writes of Nash’s work:
“For me, the most compelling attribute of Nash’s work is the element of change . . . he seems not interested in static sculpture. Because he uses raw, untreated wood, change is inevitable. Wood splits, cracks, warps, opens, changes colour, displays its knots and swellings, flaunts its grain, succumbs to fungal and microbial growths, to nature’s chemistries and mineralisation, softens, loses bits of itself, decays. Everything in the world moves towards decay . . .”
David Nash at Yorkshire Sculpture Park 2010 Review by Gerry in Art 2010
I have long held a fascination for the cycle of growth and decay, hence my interest in the work of David Nash, among other artists who work in wood on a large scale.
Oculus Block
Giuseppe Penone.
“To enter a forest of wood is to embark on a voyage in time . . .
The clarity of the well-marked path is sterile. To find the path, to follow it, to examine it, and to clear away the tangled undergrowth: that is sculpture.”
( Penone, G. 1983.)
This statement by Penone reflects his close relationship with nature as he grew up in an agricultural community. His work is rooted in the natural landscape.
Penone came of age in the mid- sixties alongside a number of Italian artists who rejected the artistic prescriptions of the time and who were grouped together as “arte povera”, describing their thirst for new, non-traditional materials and ways of making. For Penone, his inspiration was the relationship between our bodies and the living ecosystem we inhabit. During his long career, he has become one of the most recognised Italian artists of his time by seeking the place of human activity in the natural world.
I have selected three of Penone’s works, each from a different era and each with a fascinating story to tell.
Alpe Marittime, 1968.
In this early work, Penone measured the effect of his touch on young trees in the woods of the Maritime Alps, making long-term sculptural interventions which he documented in photographs. In one, he grasped the trunk of a young tree, pressing the flesh of his fingers hard against the bark, leaving an impression on the tree. He then made an iron cast of his own hand grasping a young tree and attached it to its trunk. Ten years later he found the tree had begun to absorb the intruding hand into itself.
“I feel the forest breathing, and hear the slow, inexorable growth of the wood. I match my breathing to that of the green world around me, I feel the flow of the tree around my hand placed upon the trunk.”
(Penone, 1968.)
Over time the hand is being slowly absorbed into the body of the tree. The contrast between the metal and the wood is a fascinating one.
Spazio di Luce
Forty years later, for the Bloomberg Commission, he returns to:
”This simple yet complex reflection on the passing of time . . . alludes to the inseparable bond between man and nature”.
(Blazwick, I. Director, Whitechapel Gallery, 2012)
This work was inspired by a location on the border between France and Italy known as The Valley of Miracles, where there are over thirty thousand rock carvings around Mount Bego, a sacred mountain.
“The miracle is not the carvings, but the beauty of the valley, its mountains, its larches, and the presence of the sea evoked by the smell of the grass – it is a beauty that suggests a sense of sacredness.”
(Penone, G. 2012)
Penone sources larches for his work from the forest rangers there. Spazio di Luce is a conical shaped multi-segmented trunk of one such tree, from which the core has been removed. Each segment has its own set of branches radiating from the trunk. The trees are lined up horizontally on the floor, their branches acting as legs.
“I coated the trunk and branches with a layer of wax as if it were a year’s growth in the tree’s life cycle. When in contact with the trunk, the wax was imprinted with the pattern of the bark and the signs of the hands that applied it.”
(Penone, G. 2012)
The sections were then cast in bronze and the inside surface was covered in gold leaf. Walking towards the work there appears to be a luminous glow emanating from within the tree space – the Spazio di Luce or Space of Light.
Penone encourages viewers to touch the work, to leave fingerprints on it, to see the relationships between the tree and the casting wax, the artist’s hand and the tree, the viewer’s hand and the finished work, creating a physical communication.
I find such a depth of love and understanding of the natural world in Penone’s work. The beauty of his creations takes my breath away. I love the concept of the work being enhanced by the touch of the human viewer – and how the soul of the viewer must, in turn, be enhanced by the experience.
Spazio di Luce
Exhibited at the Whitechapel Gallery, London in 2012-13
Giusseppi Penone at Fort Mason, San Francisco, 2019-2021
The two works installed in San Francisco are “Idee di Pietra” (Ideas of Stone) and “La Logica del Vegetale” (The Logic of the Vegetal). Penone conceived this installation in response to the landscape at Fort Mason in conjunction with the Gagosian Museum. In each work a bronze cast of a tree is combined with natural elements, evoking the vital forces and life cycle of the surrounding growth.
“The installation of Penone’s bronzes among these live specimens creates an intensified experience of both nature and art, prompting us to consider the complexity of the earth’s ecosystem and the role humans play in it.”
(Mangini, E. in Gagosian Quarterly, Spring 2020.)
The first is a towering bronze tree with several large river stones high in its bare branches. The weathering bronze mimics the trunk from which it was cast so as to appear natural and this narrow tree, tall and straight, supports the stones, suggesting a force resisting gravity.
In “La Logica del Vegetale” the tree lies on its side, its gnarled roots exposed. Live saplings native to California sprout at the tips of its branches.
“Penone’s sculptural interpretation of the perpetual give-and-take between humans and nature offers a poetic analogy to the evolution of the Golden Gate National Recreational Area.”
(Lempesis, D. “Giusseppi Penone in Fort Mason.” Preview in Art View 2020)
I find the work of Penone to be deeply moving as he explores the relationship between humans and nature. I love his description of trees as:
“not objects but individuals, with their own life and a shape different to ours but with the same dignity.”
Idee de Pietra 2004
La Logica del Vegetale 2012
Emilie Benes Brzezinski
Swiss American sculptor Brzezinski was born into an exiled Czech political family and grew up in California, where her career began in the seventies. Her expressive themes are always related to nature. She began to create monumental sculptures using a chain saw and axe, carving towering forms which breathed new life into felled trunks. Many of her works are in the Czech Republic, the country of her family’s origin. Her work entitled “Prague Titans” overlooks the Vltara River.
Prague Titans
“Nature has a grand design, but its manifestations unfold in imperfection and specificity. Respect to this persistent individuality in natural form is the underpinning of my work.”
(Brzezinski, E. B. Artist’s Statement)
I am drawn to two of Brzezinski’s installations in particular, as they share my perspective on the relationship between people and trees. The sculptor has always viewed trees as having structures and characteristics akin to those of humans:
“I am always amazed at the parallels between human gesture and the gesture of a tree.” (Brzezinski, E.B.” The Lure of the Forest” DAB Inc.)
Her installation “Family Tree” comprises fourteen hollowed-out tree trunks, each embedded with a life-size photograph of a family member – husband, children and grandchildren. The placement of the trees is done in such a way that you can’t see all the trees at once.
“I intend the viewer to play a hide and seek game in order to appreciate the work. As you walk through or around the installation, each trunk shifts in its presentation of the figures, giving the viewer multiple perspectives of a single work.”
(Brzezinski, E.B. “The Lure of the Forest.” DAB Inc.)
The sculptor includes herself in the group – a photograph of her with her hand raised, shading her eyes, as if looking for something:
“I am looking for my family” she explains. “I didn’t really know who I was, or where I belonged, until I had my children, and now my grandchildren, in America. They help me feel I belong here.”
The sense of belonging is a powerful one for us all, as is our sense of place.
Brzezinski followed this installation with a similar and beautiful one, using images of her grandchildren playing in water, entitled “Water Garden.”
I find these installations both moving and inspirational as they reinforce for me, on a personal level, the importance of family and memories which I associate with special places and the trees to be found there. I am also looking towards the possibilities of transferring photographic images on to my birch forms. I embrace the notion of the viewer walking through or around the installation, giving time to study each individual piece as it becomes part of the whole forest. In the case of Bzezinski’s work, size really does matter.
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