NICK GILMORE

I work mostly in wood and paper: sculpture, furniture, and printmaking. Working with tools helps me approach a sense of peace; the materials and process follow a rejuvenating logic and humbling risk. Over 20 years of work experience in the construction trades largely informs this work. Conceptual points of focus include the interconnectedness of the natural and built environments, as well as blurring the divisions between utilitarian, aesthetic, and spiritual function. Through their integration I feel closer to whole, and somehow more hopeful. A chair can be as useful for rumination and the fight for social justice as it is for sitting. Much of my work incorporates old growth Dade County pine (pinus elliottii var. densa) wood, a rare local South Florida tree which was logged nearly to extinction by early 20th century development; the material I use has been salvaged from my own 1926 Miami home and many other, often demolished, Miami buildings. This material, a symbol of fraught..