Andy Goldsworthy

Andy Goldsworthy

Andy Goldsworthy is a sculptor and photographer from Britain.  He is famous for sculptures he painstakingly makes out of nature, and then photographs them.  In Andy Goldsworthy’s process, he finds an interesting space in nature.  He then chooses one aspect of the area, such as stones, leaves, sticks, or even ice, to create a sculpture out of.  Goldsworthy builds these amazing sculptures with his bare hands, using no bonding agents.  This is impressive, because the majority of his works rely exclusively on balance to hold them together.  After the completion of his projects, Andy Goldsworthy takes a photo to preserve that moment in time, and then leaves the sculpture in its natural habitat and allows nature to run its course.  

Goldsworthy is one of my favorite artists.  I find his work fascinating, and I love looking through his portfolio.  I chose to research him because I watched a documentary about him in high school, which was how I was introduced to his work, and gained interest in his art.  It is very inspiring to me that he spends so much time building these intricate sculptures, and then is able to leave them behind to be destroyed by the natural environment.  I also admire the amount of motor control Goldsworthy has.  I am influenced by the amount of patience it must take to balance the stones and sticks in those amazing patterns.  Also, I admire that amount of thought that goes into each piece.  Not only does he spend time focusing on the artwork itself, he also plays close attention to temperature, or time of day.  For example, one of his egg sculptures made of balanced stones is near the seashore, and depending upon the time of day the tide covers parts of the object.