Lot Essay
Asahikawa Museum in Hokkaido, Japan, invited Nash to create an exhibition to tour six venues in Japan in 1994. The wood for the works was sourced from an experimental forest managed by Hokaido University at Otoineppu. Nash made three visits to the village of Otoineppu in 1933 coinciding with the three seasons, Spring, Summer and Winter. Elm Song was one of several sculptures made from a huge hollow elm trunk in the summer of 1993. During his visit Nash was struck by the birds he came across and this might have inspired his title: 'The birdsong was new to me too: nightinggales had arrived, the older ones with clear, mature song and the younger ones still learning the phrases. In the forest a bird made a beautiful, timeless sound like a heartbeat' (see N. Lynton, David Nash, London, 2007, p. 101).
Lots 162 and 163 were conceived as part of this project.
We are very grateful to David Nash for his assistance cataloguing lots 160-165.
Lots 162 and 163 were conceived as part of this project.
We are very grateful to David Nash for his assistance cataloguing lots 160-165.