Bryan Nash Gill (November 3, 1961 – May 17, 2013) was an American artist who worked primarily with wood, in the form of

relief print Relief printing is a family of printing methods where a printing block, plate or matrix, which has had ink applied to its non-recessed surface, is brought into contact with paper. The non-recessed surface will leave ink on the paper, whereas t ...

s and sculptures.

Early life

Gill was born in 1961 in Hartford, Connecticut and was raised on a farm in

Granby, Connecticut Granby is a town in far northern Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 10,903 at the 2020 census. The town center is defined as a census-designated place known as Salmon Brook. Other areas in town include North Granby a ...

. He attended

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and graduated in 1980. In 1984 he graduated from

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts, with a focus on

glassblowing Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble (or parison) with the aid of a blowpipe (or blow tube). A person who blows glass is called a ''glassblower'', ''glassmith'', or ''gaffer''. A '' lampworke ...

. He moved to Italy to learn stone carving before returning to the United States to study at the

California College of the Arts California College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded in Berkeley, California in 1907 and moved to a historic estate in Oakland, California in 1922. In 1996 it opened a second campus in Sa ...

. He graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in 1988.

Career

Although Gill began his art career in glassblowing, ceramics and landscape drawing, he gradually turned to sculpture. His early works were mainly abstract metal sculptures, but over time he increasingly began to work with wood instead of metal. He briefly lived in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

but returned to

New Hartford, Connecticut New Hartford is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 6,658 at the 2020 census. The town center is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as the New Hartford Center census-designated place (CDP). The town is mainl ...

, where he constructed a two-story studio adjoining his house in 1998 from wood timbered from his own property. One of Gill's first works after he resettled in Connecticut was a sculpture composed of 42 upside-down hanging Christmas trees. Some of his other sculptures include ''Twins'' (2000), a bronze cast of two conjoined saplings, and ''Blow Down'' (2002), a skinned and flattened spruce tree mounted on a wall. Gill began creating

woodcuts Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

from tree cross-sections in 2004. Most of his woodcuts were created from dead or damaged tree parts that he collected and took to his studio to prepare cross-sections of the wood for

relief printing Relief printing is a family of printing methods where a printing block, plate or matrix, which has had ink applied to its non-recessed surface, is brought into contact with paper. The non-recessed surface will leave ink on the paper, whereas t ...

. In 2012, Chronicle Books published ''Woodcut'', a book which displays a selection of Gill's prints; it was named one of ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...

''s best books of the year. An exhibition by the same name, composed of 30 of Gill's prints, was displayed at the

Chicago Botanic Garden The Chicago Botanic Garden is a living plant museum situated on nine islands in the Cook County Forest Preserves. It features 27 display gardens in four natural habitats: McDonald Woods, Dixon Prairie, Skokie River Corridor, and Lakes and Shor ...

in early 2013. He created prints from a large variety of trees, of which the oldest was a fallen 200-year-old chestnut tree once planted by

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co ...

. Gill's work has been displayed at the

New Britain Museum of American Art The New Britain Museum of American Art is an art museum in New Britain, Connecticut. Founded in 1903, it is the first museum in the country dedicated to American art. A total of 72,000 visits were made to the museum in the year ending June 30, 200 ...

and

DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park The deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum is a 30-acre sculpture park and contemporary art museum on the shore of Flint's Pond in Lincoln, Massachusetts, 20 miles northwest of Boston. It was established in 1950. It is the largest park of its kind ...

, and he was commissioned to create installations for

Expo 2005 Expo 2005 was a World Expo held for 185 days between Friday, March 25 and Sunday, September 25, 2005, in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, east of the city of Nagoya. Japan has also hosted Expo '70 Osaka (World Expo), Expo '75 Okinawa (Specialised Expo) ...

in Japan and the World Financial Center in New York. He was a fellow of the

California Arts Council The California Arts Council is a state agency based in Sacramento, United States. Its eight council members are appointed by the Governor and the state Legislature. The agency's mission is to advance California through arts, culture and creativit ...

and twice received grants from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts. He was profiled in '' Martha Stewart Living'' in 2012 and was the focus of a documentary video produced by the magazine.

Personal life

Gill died on May 17, 2013, "unexpectedly of natural causes" at the age of 52. He was married to Gina Gill (née Kiss) for 12 years, and they had a son named Forest.

Bibliography

* ''Woodcut'' (2012), Princeton Architectural Press,

References

External links

Official websiteMing by Bryan Nash Gill
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gill, Bryan Nash 1961 births 2013 deaths Artists from Hartford, Connecticut People from New Hartford, Connecticut Sculptors from Connecticut Tulane University alumni California College of the Arts alumni