In the Town Hall there will be examples of works sculpted throughout his career. “One of the early pieces,” he says, when pressed for examples, “is called ‘Pegged Tripod’. It is made from a long length of sweet chestnut, which I split into three and re-arranged to form a tripod. I love pulling things apart, and putting them back together again. Before it could not have stood up, and now it can.”

Another, more recent piece, is called ‘Red Flash’. “I found some red yew in a Sussex wood yard. I’ve no idea how long it had been in there, they didn’t have a clue what to do with it. It must have been 1500 years old. I moved it to Wales and it took me a long time before I figured what I could do make from it, how to articulate it into a particular form.”
 
One criticism some people might raise about Nash’s ‘natural’ art being exhibited in an ‘unnatural’ (ie indoor) setting is offset by the inclusion in the exhibition of the recent work ‘Big Bud’, a four-metre 60-ton structure which will be craned into Grange Gardens for the duration of the show. “It’s easier to convey a sense of scale outdoors than indoors,” says Nash. “The sculpture has a very simple egg or bud-like shape. It’s a dynamic piece, set at a slight lean. It’s very phallic. It’s got a birthing quality.” ‘With the Grain - Wood Sculpture by David Nash’ is organised by Sculpture Exhibitions Ltd, whose directors Ann Elliott and Paul Myles were part-responsible for the recent Auguste Rodin, Anthony Caro and Henry Moore exhibitions in the same space. AL