David Gilbert

I live on a houseboat surrounded by nature in a small community, set in a beautiful strip of forest originally planted to provide wood for the maintenance of the locks and footbridges on the Basingstoke Canal. The most striking differences to living above a shop on a busy high street in London are sensory; the look, the smells, sounds, the atmosphere and a feeling of peacefulness. Stepping out of the front door in Haringey, everything was urban, man-made, commercial, technological, manufactured. Leaving the boat you step into nature. Trees, plants, birdsong and water instead of traffic noise. The stars are visible at night. Although the road is only a few hundred yards away, town is just beyond the tree-line, it is possible to imagine we are in the middle of nowhere. Living in this green environment inspired me to create work that resonates with the surroundings. The body of work is from wood locally sourced from the area where we live, a beautiful strip of forest originally planted to provide wood for the maintenance of the locks and footbridges on the Basingstoke Canal. Living in this green environment inspired me to create work that resonates with the surroundings. Wood from the trees that we live amongst is the most readily available material. I choose pieces that look interesting as if they have a story to tell. Sometimes where they have interacted with a man-made object such as a rope tied to the trunk or a branch, the tree has grown around the obstruction, creating a synthesis with the living wood. Looking at some of my sculptures, I constantly find shapes and forms echoed in the nature that surrounds us. Looking at some of my sculptures, I constantly find shapes and forms echoed in the nature that surrounds us. I do not consciously imitate these shapes, however they always seem to be there. Please view the catalog: https://www.blurb.co.uk/bookstore/invited/10023774/737255fcaae9d6c18468ec48151148e4ee61da9a