Cairn Column
Cairn Column (by David Nash) in Kew Gardens is carved from Sussex oak which has been charred - After burning, Nash sprays the wood with water to let it cool off. He then scrapes the loose char away and re-chars the wood with a propane torch to get an even tighter texture that does not fall off.
To Nash the blackness of burned wood absorbs all light and encourages the viewer to observe the form of the sculpture rather than the detail of wood. 'I've always had an interest in blackness. Black looks bigger when you look into it, it is a very deep space. With wood sculpture one tends to see "wood", a familiar material, before reading the form: wood first, sculpture second. Charring radically changes this experience,' he says.
Cairn Column
Cairn Column (by David Nash) in Kew Gardens is carved from Sussex oak which has been charred - After burning, Nash sprays the wood with water to let it cool off. He then scrapes the loose char away and re-chars the wood with a propane torch to get an even tighter texture that does not fall off.
To Nash the blackness of burned wood absorbs all light and encourages the viewer to observe the form of the sculpture rather than the detail of wood. 'I've always had an interest in blackness. Black looks bigger when you look into it, it is a very deep space. With wood sculpture one tends to see "wood", a familiar material, before reading the form: wood first, sculpture second. Charring radically changes this experience,' he says.