Andy Goldsworthy

Andy Goldsworthy is a British sculptor and photographer.

He works are very interesting and they do not conform to the traditional way of making art, where most artists would stay in the studio to do art. The environment will be his canvas and materials. He would use only the materials from the nature to make art. The artist feels that he can feel a sense of energy when he works outside.

Another reason that he works outside and with the elements of the nature is because of the sense of uncertainty he experiences. When working only with the elements of nature, his artworks tend to be very fragile and can be easily destroyed by things like forces of nature, weather and the artworks may also change and corrode with time. However, it is the sense of uncertainty that keeps him going as the process would then be more exciting and unpredictable. Hence, the artist expresses that to him, the processes mean more to him than the actual artworks themselves. He also says that he will not wear gloves when making the artworks, no matter how cold the environment is as he wants to be more connected to his works by having the sensitivity when making it. This resembles what Affandi way of making art as Affandi uses his hands to paint as he want to feel his art.

His artworks are often full of life and energy. He also cleverly fuses his artwork with the various characteristics and the movement of nature. For example, many of his artworks on the rivers moves in an interesting way with the movement of the waves of the rivers. His artwork is constantly in movement and gives us a dynamic feeling and represents the forces of nature.
His works can be compared with the works of Han Sai Por, where both artists like to convey the message about the importance of nature. However, I personally thinks that Goldsworthy's artworks are more effective. This is because his entire art making process in done in the nature, where all materials and tools are taken from nature too, hence the artwork will naturally have a connection towards nature and the spirit of life. While for Han Sia Por, although she uses the shapes and structures in her sculptures to convey the theme of nature, she however does her works in studios and the process of sculpture making itself is not connected with the nature. Hence, I feel that Goldsworthy's works better represents nature and conveys the spirit of life.

I do feel that Andy Goldsworthy's way of making art is revolutionary as his works are very vulnerable and can be easily destroyed by its surroundings. Although he do photograph the artworks, he still need to bear seeing his hard work being destroyed right before his eyes. For some cases, the artworks can be destroyed in a matter of seconds after its completion and the artist just need to learn to let go. I think that his artworks also teaches us that we need to learn to let go in life. We cannot always desire to hold on to something forever, or else we will be not be risk takers and experiences better things in life. Its is just like when the artist learns to let go, can he be able to produce such creative artworks. Sometimes we must learn to let go to achieve greater good.