Icicles/thick ends dipped in snow then
water/held until frozen together, 1987
Goldsworthy, Andy. Icicles/thick ends dipped in snow then
water/held until frozen together. 1987. Dumfriesshire. ARTstor.
Web. 4 Sept 2010.
Broken pebbles/scratched white
with another stone, 1985
Goldsworthy, Andy. Broken pebbles/scratched white
with another stone. 1985. The Scottish Borders.
ARTstor. Web. 4 Sept 2010.
Pebbles around a hole, 1987
Goldsworthy, Andy. Pebbles around a hole. 1987. Japan. ARTstor. Web. 4 Sept 2010.

Born July 26, 1956 in Cheshire, England

Raised in Yorkshire, England

Attended Bradford Art College 1974–1975 and
Preston Polytechnic 1975–1978

Has been making art in the environment, both rural
and urban, since the mid-1970s1
Goldsworthy, Andy. Rivers and Tides.
2000. Galerie Lelong. “Contemporary
Art.” ARTstor.Web. 2 Sept 2010.

Creates outdoor sculptures that manifest a
sympathetic contact with the natural world2

Uses large range of natural materials - snow, ice, leaves, bark, rock , clay, stones, feathers,
petals, twigs3
Copyright © 2010 2008 National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

Goldsworthy deliberately explores the tension of working in the area where he finds
his materials

Undeterred by changes in the weather which may melt a spectacular ice arch or wash
away a delicate structure of grasses

The intention is not to “make his mark” on the landscape1

He is an Andrew D. White Professor at Cornell University2

Produced more than 70 exhibitions and projects all over the world

Temporary museum installations3

Large-scale installations in the United States4
Copyright © 2010 2008 National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pbio?571670)
Slate arch/made over two days/fourth attempt, 1982
Goldsworthy, Andy. Slate arch/made over two days/fourth attempt. 1982. Whales. ARTstor. Web. 4 Sept 2010.
“Movement, change, light growth, and decay are the lifeblood of nature, the
energies that I try to tap through my work. I need the shock of touch, the
resistance of place, materials and weather, the earth as my source. I want
to get under the surface. When I work with a leaf, rock, stick, it is not just
that material itself, it is an opening into the processes of life within and
around it. When I leave it, these processes continue.”
Hollis, Jill, Cameron, Ian. Andy Goldsworthy: A Collaboration with Nature, New York: Harry N. Abrams Incorporated, 1990
“For me looking, touching, material, place and form are all inseparable from
the resulting work. It is difficult to say where one stops and another
begins. Place is found by walking, direction determined by weather and
season. I take the opportunity each day offers: if it is snowing, I work in
snow, at leaf-fall it will be leaves; a blown over tree becomes a source of
twigs and branches.”
Hollis, Jill, Cameron, Ian. Andy Goldsworthy: A Collaboration with Nature, New York: Harry N. Abrams Incorporated, 1990
New York Cone, 1995
Goldsworthy, Andy. New York Cone. 1995. Galerie Lelong. “Contemporary
Art.”ARTstor. Web. 4 Sept 2010.
Leaves/polished, creased/mad in the
shadow of the tree from which they
fell/pinned to the ground with thorns, 1989
Goldsworthy, Andy. Leaves/polished, creased/mad in the shadow of the tree from which
they fell/pinned to the ground with thorns. 1989. France. ARTstor. Web. 4 Sept 2010.
“At its most successful, my 'touch' looks into the
heart of nature; most days I don't even get close.
These things are all part of a transient process that I
cannot understand unless my touch is also transientonly in this way can the cycle remain unbroken and
the process be complete.”
Hollis, Jill, Cameron, Ian. Andy Goldsworthy: A Collaboration with Nature, New York: Harry N. Abrams Incorporated, 1990
Line to follow colours in pebbles, 1985
Goldsworthy, Andy. Line to follow colours in pebbles. 1985. The
Scottish Borders. ARTstor. Web. 4 Sept 2010.
Stacked ice/sound of cracking, 1985
Goldsworthy, Andy. Stacked ice/sound of cracking. 1985. London.
ARTstor. Web. 4 Sept 2010.

I am an artist/photographer similar to Andy Goldsworthy, which is the main reason why I chose
him. I look at his work and can seriously see myself doing what he does in my own future.

Goldsworthy’s photography is simple and routine. No matter if his work doesn’t turn out the way
he wants it to, it is still documented.

Nature is important in my life and it amazes me that Goldsworthy is able to include the loose and
disordered aspects of nature while also incorporating the tight and regular.

Each work grows, strays, decays—integral parts of a cycle which the photograph shows at its height,
marking the moment when the work is most alive. Much like in my own photography, life is
captured and it makes the viewer feel something.

There is an intensity about each work at its peak that is expressed in his images. Process and decay
are implicit, just as in real life.

His goal is to understand nature by directly participating in nature as intimately as he can. I can’t say
that I am a purist in all of the photography that I do, but it definitely makes more of an impact when
I have taken a photo that looks surreal and it has not been altered in any way. The viewer seems to
be taken aback that such existentialism exists on its own.
Ice and icicles/dipped in water/held against rock and ice until frozen, 1987
Goldsworthy, Andy. Ice and icicles/dipped in water/held against rock and ice until frozen. 1987.
Dumfriesshire. ARTstor. Web. 4 Sept 2010.
Slits cut into frozen snow/stormy/strong wind/weather and light rapidly changing, 1988
Goldsworthy, Andy. Slits cut into frozen snow/stormy/strong wind/weather and light rapidly changing. 1988. Cumbria.
ARTstor. Web. 4 Sept 2010.

Even though I could not find anything historical that had an impact on
Goldsworthy’s work, it is correct to assume that nature had the biggest
influence on his art.

Goldsworthy wanted his art to be sensitive and alert to changes in material,
season and weather

All of the forms he used were to be found in nature with there being many
qualities within any material

Movement, change, light, growth and decay are the lifeblood of nature, the
energies that Goldsworthy tries to tap into. He thrives for the shock of touch,
the resistance of place, materials and weather. The earth is his source.

He turns random piles of stones into gravity-defying structures and scattered
leaves into dazzling gradiated rainbows
Japanese maple/leaves stitched together to
make a floating chain/the next day it became
a hole supported underneath by a woven
briar ring, 1987
Sycamore leaves/stitched together
with stalks/hung from a tree, 1986
Goldsworthy, Andy. Japanese maple/leaves stitched together to make
a floating chain/the next day it became a hole supported underneath
by a woven briar ring. 1987. Japan. ARTstor. Web. 4 Sept 2010.
Goldsworthy, Andy. Sycamore leaves/stitched together with
stalks/hung from a tree. 1986. Glasgow. ARTstor. Web. 4 Sept 2010.

I have my own philosophy; everything changes except for change. Looking at
Andy Goldsworthy’s art, it seems to me that he has the same philosophy. Even
though his art as a whole won’t always last, there will be remnants.

If you’re starting to think of an art project to start, you don’t have to look for
ideas or materials – they’re ready for you in nature.You just have to put them
together.

When a change comes, the idea must alter or it will, and often does, fail. This
can be applied in all aspects of life.You can’t just give up when something
doesn’t work or your project falls apart, because eventually, it will fall apart. It’s
the acceptance part of its demise that is the hardest to grasp.

More often than not, you start doing a project and it won’t not turn out the
way you wanted it to. It might turn into something better or spark a bigger
idea. Don’t always think of the negative if change arises.
Bright sunny morning/frozen snow/cut
slab/scraped snow away with stick just
short of breaking through, 1987
Fine dry/edges and ridges
softened by the breeze, 1989
Goldsworthy, Andy. Bright sunny morning/frozen snow/cut
slab/scraped snow away with stick just short of breaking through.
1987. Japan. ARTstor. Web. 4 Sept 2010.
Goldsworthy, Andy. Fine dry/edges and ridges softened by the
breeze. 1989. Arizona. ARTstor. Web. 4 Sept 2010.
Slate Hole Wall, 1990
Goldsworthy, Andy. Slate Hole Wall. 1990. Edinburgh. ARTstor. Web. 4 Sept 2010.
Two works made in the same place/sticks
and willow herb stalks/pushed into lake
bottom/shallow, 1987
Goldsworthy, Andy. Two works made in the same place/sticks and willow
herb stalks/pushed into lake bottom/shallow. 1987. Yorkshire Sculpture
Park. ARTstor. Web. 4 Sept 2010.
Bracken, 1988
Goldsworthy, Andy. Bracken. 1988. Cumbria.
ARTstor. Web. 4 Sept 2010.
Touching North, 1989
Goldsworthy, Andy. Touching North. 1989. North Pole. ARTstor. Web. 4 Sept 2010.
Rhododendron leaves/creased to catch
the hazy to bright light/held to the
ground with thorns, 1987
Goldsworthy, Andy. Rhododendron leaves/creased
to catch the hazy to bright light/held to the ground
with thorns. 1987. Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
ARTstor. Web. 4 Sept 2010.
Dandelions/newly flowered/none as yet
turned to seed/undamaged by wind or
rain/a grass verge, 1987
Goldsworthy, Andy. Dandelions/newly
flowered/none as yet turned to seed/undamaged by
wind or rain/a grass verge. 1987. Yorkshire
Sculpture Park. ARTstor. Web. 4 Sept 2010.