It is not just plants and vegetables that are growing at Inverness Botanic Gardens this summer.
A new art exhibition has taken root among the glasshouses and flowerbeds, created entirely from natural materials found close to home.
The exhibition, titled Out of the Ground, is the work of sculptor Nigel Goldie, who lives in Assynt on Scotland’s west coast.
His sculptures, made from materials sourced from the Botanic Gardens and from the wild coastal land around Assynt, bring to life both the tamed and untamed elements of the natural world.
Dotted throughout the Gardens, the pieces range in size and form, some taking surprising and abstract shapes that invite fresh ways of seeing nature and our relationship with it.
Fragile works can also be viewed in one of the glasshouses until 17 September, with the exhibition as a whole running until the end of the month.
Nigel explained the distinctive approach behind some of the pieces.
“One of the features of the sculptures in the glasshouse is that they are not only made with materials from nature, but also the construction method has relied on pinning the elements together by a doweling technique without additional glueing or other means of holding them together.
“This means they are fragile but also unusual and unique forms are thereby created.”
This is the first time he has displayed at the Inverness Botanic Gardens, a fitting venue for work that puts nature at its heart.
Nigel’s own path to sculpture has been far from conventional.
After a varied career in academia, local government and social research, he developed his interest in abstract forms of expression and how they can reflect themes of power, exclusion, cohesion and harmony.
Since moving to Assynt in 2012, he has worked with everything from natural detritus to industrial plastics, showing his work at events and festivals across the north-west coast.
The exhibition in Inverness reflects a renewed focus on his practice and his desire to share his exploration of the natural world in sculptural form.
For visitors, Out of the Ground offers not only beauty but a chance to see the familiar world of Highland landscapes expressed in fresh and unexpected ways.
For more information visit Nigel’s website by clicking HERE
