Art and writing by Oxford based artist, Nicholas Hedges

Look, trees exist

"If the opposite of war is peace, the opposite of experiencing moments of war is proposing moments of pastoral"

Paul Fussell

I have just finished reading Carlo Rovelli's 'The Order of Time' which, as well as being a fantastic read, has helped me think about my own thoughts on time and in particular, the idea of trying to see the past as if it were the present. Rovelli takes the reader on a journey from what might be termed a 'common perception of time,' to one that … Continue Reading

Empathy Forward

Much of my work over the past however many years has been about empathy and how we can empathise with those who suffered trauma in the past. In part, this line of work began with a visit I made to Auschwitz in 2006 and developed with visits to other sites of historical trauma including the battlefield sites of the First World War. My work has … Continue Reading

The Natural World of 978

I've written before about this postcard. When I bought it n 1978 I was 7 years old and, in many ways, it marked the beginning of my interest in History - the idea that there was a time when the year could be written with just 3 numbers; 9, 7, and 8 - and at some point my interest in the past was conflated with that of my interest in nature; in … Continue Reading

The Gone Forest

Two years ago I shot some video at Shotover Country Park (see 'Writing Shadows') and finally, this weekend, I had the chance to edit the clips together to make a piece entitled 'The Gone Forest'. The piece is something viewers can dip in and out of rather than sit through from beginning to end, and while it is a finished piece, there are lots of … Continue Reading

Empathy/Exchange: 668 grams

This follows on from my last post - Goethean Observation: Pilgrims of the Wild, 1935. I made this observation after struggling with an idea I've had for a long time. The idea came from work I made several years ago on the theme of the Holocaust which led to an installation at Shotover Country park in Oxford (2009) entitled 'The Woods, … Continue Reading

Goethean Observation: Pilgrims of the Wild, 1935

As with observations of this type, the text is written almost as a stream-of-consciousness, as a result of which there might be a fair amount of repetition, dropped sentences, and parts that won’t make an awful lot sense! But that is the nature of the thing; to find a hook - a few words that might be the foundation of something else. Goethean … Continue Reading

Nazareth O

As part of my family history research (as described in my previous post), I chanced upon a name which leapt from the pages of an old parish register: Nazareth. Nazareth was the wife of my 8th great-uncle William Oakley (born in St. Thomas' parish, Oxford in 1673), and as things stand, that is all I know. But the more I've thought about her and … Continue Reading

Several Johns and St. Thomas

I've recently returned to researching my family tree - something I've been doing on and off since 2007, and have been following a line on my maternal grandfather's side in my hometown of Oxford. My mother, like her father and grandfather, was actually born in Reading and it was something of a surprise to find that her ancestors (on her own paternal … Continue Reading

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