Andy Goldsworthy

I chose Andy Goldsworthy as this week's artist because his work and philosophy toward nature have had an impact on my own work lately. He has the ability to transform something that exists in nature more intriguing than it already is. His art has inspired me to work more in outdoor spaces, such as woods, meadows, parking lots with grass and small trees peeking through the asphalt, etc. I want to combine those scenes with my own dark structures to create a similar dynamic.

"I find some of my new works disturbing, just as I find nature as a whole disturbing. The landscape is often perceived as pastoral, pretty, beautiful – something to be enjoyed as a backdrop to your weekend before going back to the nitty-gritty of urban life. But anybody who works the land knows it's not like that. Nature can be harsh – difficult and brutal, as well as beautiful. You couldn't walk five minutes from here without coming across something that is dead or decaying."[1]

"One of the beauties of art is that it reflects an artist's entire life. What I've learned over the past 30 years is really beginning to inform what I make. I hope that process continues until I die."[2]

Ice Ball, 1985, stacked sheets of ice, Hampstead Heath, London, 3' x 3'

Hanging Hole, 1986, wood and string, Holbeck, Leeds, 5' x 4'

Slate Arch, 1982, stacked slate, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Wales, 4' x 7'

Sticks Spire, 1983, wood, Helbeck, Cumbria, 10' x 3'

Andy Goldsworthy studied fine art at Bradford College of Art (1974–1975) and at Preston Polytechnic (1975–1978) (now the University of Central Lancashire) in Preston, Lancashire, receiving his Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree from the latter. After leaving college, Goldsworthy lived in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria. In 1985 he moved to Langholm in Dumfries and Galloway, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and a year later to Penpoint. In 1993 he was given an honorary degree by the University of Bradford. He is currently an A.D. White Professor-At-Large at Cornell University.

Interview with Andy Goldsworthy

Artist Website

[1]/[2] Sooke, Alastair. "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Limited, 24 Mar. 2007. Web. 23 Jan. 2011. .