{stunning nature}

Andy Goldsworthy is a British sculptor and photographer living in Scotland, who has been creating stunning and intricate pieces of art for decades. He uses natural materials (leaves, twigs, sand, snow, pinecones, icicles, etc.), often in site-specific places (that is, meant to exist in certain places, such as the natural settings he is most known for), and many times with no tools other than his own hands.



Although he does have many permanent sculptures throughout the world, he has spent much of his career exploring the idea that artwork has a natural life too and eventually must end. His photography is, therefore, important in documenting his works. He explains, "Each work grows, stays, decays – integral parts of a cycle which the photograph shows at its heights, marking the moment when the work is most alive. There is an intensity about a work at its peak that I hope is expressed in the image. Process and decay are implicit."



While it's easy to get lost in the beauty of nature when you look at the photographs of his work, he cautions that nature is as harsh as it is beautiful: "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."



For photos of other Andy Goldsworthy work, see this Flickr pool (Note: some of it is Andy Goldsworthy inspired, and not his actual work. You have to read the descriptions).

Rivers and Tides, a portrait of Andy Goldsworthy by German filmmaker Thomas Riedelsheimer, is available via Netflix.

Thanks to Charlotte's Fancy!