Andy Goldsworthy
Fine artist, sculptor, photographer and environmentalist, Andy Goldsworthy, studied at Bradford College of Art from 1974 to 1975.
Attending the Foundation course in Art and Design, Andy
developed his skills in drawing and sculpture enabling
him to progress to Preston Polytechnic. Andy has become
an internationally acclaimed sculptor, photographer
and environmentalist, his objective being to work with
nature as a whole. “I have become aware of how nature
is in a state of change and how that change is the key to
understanding. I want my art to be sensitive and alert to
changes in material, season and weather.”
Most of the work has been made in the open air, in
places as diverse as the Yorkshire Dales, the Lake District,
Canada, the North Pole, Japan, the Australian outback,
St Louis, Missouri and at his home in Dumfriesshire. His
raw material is natural and found objects, creating both
temporary and permanent sculptures which draw out the
character of their environment. Sandstone, slate, twigs,
flowers pebbles, dung are all examples of natural found
objects used to create ephemeral pieces, sometimes only
recorded by photograph.
“When I regularly began to
make work outdoors, during the first year of my degree
at Lancaster, I realized very quickly that the studio is such
a dead space…..It was difficult to get some motivation,
to know why I was working there.” Photography plays
a crucial role in his art showing the work at its heights,
marking the moment when the work is most alive. “I
document what I have made with notes, drawings and
photographs. For me the photograph is a memory which
evokes the experience of making and of being outside.”
Andy has kept close links with Bradford College
particularly with tutors on the current Foundation in
Art and Design course. He recalls “there was always an
energy around Bradford at the time I went to the Art
College. It wasn’t something that I have really been
able to put into words - I am still in touch with Ian Taylor
there, and should talk with him about it. In lectures, we
were shown performance, happenings, and examples of
American land art. I remember one lecture consisted of
a performing fire eater. I now realise that some lecturers
were directly involved in performance work at that time,
of which Albert Hunt was a driving force.”
More recently Andy has had huge success with his
exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park just outside
Wakefield. This extraordinary exhibition brought together
an amazing range of work for both the landscape and
the galleries within the park. It included new permanent
outdoor commissions and much of the work was put
in context by photographic archive material from the
artist’s career. During the installation Andy sought the
help of friend and Bradford College Lecturer, Ian Taylor,
who enlisted the help of students on the Foundation Art & Design course to assist Andy.
Andy has exhibited widely both at home and abroad,
published many beautiful books documenting his work
and received many accolades including a Honorary
Degree from University of Bradford in 1993 and in 2000
an OBE.
Special thanks to Andy Goldsworthy and Tina Fiske.
Photography by Raul Lorenzo.