Petre Nikoloski was born in Prilep, Macedonia, in what would then have been Yugoslavia, in a time of impending turmoil. He came to Grizedale at the beginning of the nineties just as the country of his birth was crumbling. It is no surprise, then, that his work in the forest expressed the need to build a shelter; a secure place amid exterior change. In 'The Grizedale Experience', he states:

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"The law of nature; the dry stone walls meeting the pine woods, silence, unpredictability, deer, birds, wind, rain... Following the law of nature I built a wall. Enclosed a space; wall-home-house, warmth-womb-mother-woman, and all energy that exist inside that form. A wall - a desire to acknowledge the basic need to build, to change."

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Putting aside the sudden and somewhat unexpected turn into oedipal territory, it is easy to see from this comment a desire for stability in an ever-changing environment. Standing inside 'Living Space', you feel safe, almost entombed within the walls. Just remember to go in one at a time if you are in a group, though, it isn't the most spacious of interiors.

 

Not too long after Nikoloski left, Yugoslavia collapsed in on itself, torn apart by war and internal struggle. He visited Sarajevo in 2010 and interviewed locals, collecting their stories for his multi-sensory piece, 'Explosion'.