Nathan Henton

A block of wood, a single block of wood is the main component of many of Nathan Henton’s sculptures. Sometimes a stand is added to the base of the wood, but as viewers, we confront tall, vertical upright forms. We look for sense, for logic, and the sculptures give us clues. Carved marks and cut-outs jostle against the wood’s knots and grains for attention. This back-and-forth between natural form and sculptural intervention, while fundamental to our viewing experience, is also intrinsic to Henton’s production process, where he speaks of ‘catharsis and slow revelation’. As we look, forms reveal themselves. They hint at architecture, nature, the landscape, and of the making process. The finished sculptures waver between acts of intervention and revelation, a balance that ensures that as the viewer passes around the sculpture, there is always something new to see.