We commissioned this sculpture by Abdollah Nafisi as a unique feature for the County Mall unit welcome area and for multiple locations in the town in the future. Everyone can visit the sculpture for free.
The Surgeon was shown inside Unit 79/80 County Mall between March and June 2025 before heading to the West Green Window Gallery at the West Green Studios, 1, Town Barn Road, Crawley from July to November 2025. It is currently in the Window Gallery at Unit 79/80 County Mall for anyone to view during County Mall opening hours.
For us, the sculpture works on many levels; as an announcement for arts and culture in the town, an intricate comment on the power of nature, ecologies and the relationship between humans and the natural world and most importantly, a reminder to listen carefully to what is around us.
It is also a functional work that plays sound and is demountable, so can be displayed in multiple locations.
Abdollah’s studio is in Pease Pottage and we are excited to be able to share his skill, vision and quality with Crawley residents.
Abdollah Nafisi is a local British-Iranian artist, born in Tehran, based in Pease Pottage, West Sussex, UK. Working primarily with organic materials, he considers wood a storyteller of time, drawing from his background in Japanese woodwork and sourcing materials locally. Fire and metal often enter his process, exploring the interplay between heritage and temporality.
His practice is shaped by his travels with nomadic tribes in Iran, where he studied mystical Sufi music and the symbolic language of Persian killim carpets. These experiences inform his exploration of the evolving relationship between humanity and nature, tracing parallel ecologies between human existence and the landscapes he inhabits.
Nafisi holds a Master’s degree in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art. His work, positioned between utopian and dystopian visions, engages with the tensions of contemporary life, opening a dialogue between creativity, technology, and our connection to the land.
‘The Surgeon’ is a dialogue between material, sound, and Time, an act of intervention where a dying tree is upheld by joints crafted from industrial wood. In this work, Abdollah captures a moment of repair using old Sussex chair making techniques, where human craftsmanship is not only a maker of form but a healer of nature itself.
The modularity of the structure speaks to the journey of the material, its transformation, and its adaptation, echoing the resilience of trees that have existed in complex networks for millennia.
This work resonates beyond the physical. Trees, as living beings, vibrate with the movement of wind, water, and subterranean communication. The birch, often seen as ephemeral, plays a vital role in sustaining the forest floor, decomposing to nourish the oaks—its vibrations, even in decay, sustaining new life. In Sussex woodlands, Abdollah observed how fallen silver birches serve as caretakers of their environment, collaborating with other trees in ways we are
only beginning to understand.
The green horn, an amplification device, suggests an attempt to listen—to translate the unheard frequencies of trees and land. Sound waves, like roots, move unseen beneath our feet. Vibrations pulse through the structure, just as they do through soil and mycelium networks, forming a hidden language of support, alert, and adaptation. The question arises: what if we could hear the messages trees send to one another?
Abdollah’s work invites us to consider the forest as a symphony of survival, where sound is not merely heard but felt—through wood, through air, through the very earth itself. ‘The Surgeon’ stands as both a witness and a conductor of these inaudible exchanges, reminding us that the land has always spoken. We are only now learning how to listen.
