armfuls of show and tell: Interview: Bryan Nash Gill

Bryan Nash Gill, Hemlock 82 1/2, 52" x 39", relief print on Okawara paper, 2008

I came across Bryan Nash Gill’s work a few months ago on Cold Splinters, and I’m completely taken with it. Using a laborious rubbing technique, Gill makes large-scale relief prints of the cross-sections of trees. The results are gorgeous. Gill also makes sculptures and installations, using found objects such as tree branches and orange peels as well as bronze, copper, aluminum, and other unwieldy material. Writing in 2002 for Sculpture Magazine, Patricia Rosoff summarizes 1:

“Gill works in wood, gathered in winter forays and sledded back to his studio over snow-covered ground. He takes apart these logs, branches-even whole trees-and then puts them back together in the studio, employing any process that suits: splitting them, slicing them, carving back into them, stripping them of their bark, flattening the bark, even casting elements in bronze. “

Bryan Nash Gill's art pulls viewers toward a closer connection with the outdoors, the woods and the earth. Which is perhaps not surprising, given that, in addition to making art, Gill is a farmer, a woodsman, a hunter and a naturalist2. I'm delighted to have had the opportunity to interview him:

You often use found objects in your work. Are you always on the lookout for material? What kinds of things tend to catch your eye?

I find a lot of my materials by accident. The sense of discovery is exciting that way and gives the objects bigger meaning. I am always looking. There is the occasional dumpster dive and always walks in the woods which are full of fascinating stuff. I also have friends bring me stuff, which I may use in my work. I generally like objects that have inherent beauty; the form, the color, texture. Sometimes, these objects are tossed or placed on a shelf and may stay there for years until they find a place within one of my works.

Can you tell me about one thing that you’ve recently collected—what is it and why did it catch your eye? What kinds of things do friends know to bring you?

Friends bring me wasp nests, bones, found wood, old tools... The last thing I found was a Ceropia moth that had dropped out of the sky in our back yard. One of the largest and most beautiful moths I have ever seen.

Sculpture Print, 44" x 43 1/2", relief print on cotton sheet, 2010

What are your favorite materials?

Wood, copper and bronze.

Sulfur Shelf, 7" x 12.5" x 4 1/2", bronze, 2002

I really love the prints you make using sections of trees. When did you first start making prints this way? How did the idea come about?

I started making these woodcuts in 1993. I cut wood to heat my home and studio. Looking at split wood all day long gave me the idea to print logs. These prints are called relief prints or wood engravings because I am printing the end grains of wood. Traditional woodcuts are made from the longitudinal grain of wood.

Gill creating a woodcut print

I read that you grew up on a farm, raising vegetables and livestock, and that this turned you on to art at a young age. Can you talk about this? Do you still raise animals or garden?

Yes, my initial fascination with art came about when I was [very young], working with my hands on the farm.

My wife and I have a working farm and raise all the veggies and chicken for the summer months. I am in the process of building a root cellar for winter storage. We have started our own farm share / co-op with other farms in the area. We will be sharing with a select few customers: veggies, goat cheese,and fruit, along with local chicken, ducks, geese,quail and rabbit.

What is your art workspace like?

I built my studio (which is attached to my home) in 1998 out of wood from the property.

Bryan Nash Gill's studio: photo courtesy of the artist

You’ve made art in many different places, including New Orleans, California, Italy and even Japan. Can you talk a bit about how you came to be in such a diverse set of places, and about this travel has impacted your work?

I've had opportunity to work in other places, which I find exciting and inspirational. [New Orleans and California] were part of my formal education at Tulane and The California College of Arts and Crafts. I went to Italy out of my love for carved marble. I spent nearly a year living and working as a local carver in Carrara. Recently I had a residency and exhibition in Dubai. I lived in Al Bastakiya and spent a month creating site-specific sculptures or this solo show. The works were a departure for me: a wholly new cultural and scenic landscape inspired me to work in sheet aluminum.

Early on I knew that traveling would expand me and give experiences that could only add to my life. This is one of an artist’s responsibilities, to be engaged and be open to new experiences.


Stack Hydum: 2000. Bryan Nash Gill created this bronze sculpture for an exhibit in Dubai

What else do you consider to be artists’ responsibilities?

Do not pretend / be true to yourself. Not as easy as it sounds.

Do you have any upcoming travel plans and/or any part of the world that you wish to travel to someday?

I am fascinated by Japan and would like to go again for an extended period of time. I would like to study traditional woodcut printing and investigate their paper making techniques.

To see more of Gill's work, visit his website. For information about purchasing art, visit Ashes & Milk , or contact him through his website.