ANDY GOLDSWORTHY (b. 1956)

Andy Goldsworthy is best known for his unique site specific organic sculptures created in natural environments. Considered a pioneer of the land art movement, Stacked Sticks is emblematic of Goldsworthy’s artistic oeuvre. Constructed from found sticks in a woodland area in Sidobre, France, Goldsworthy creates an oval shaped structure using other natural material to bind the elements together.

According to Goldsworthy, such sculptures allow him and the viewer to explore nature in a more intimate way. By creating sculptures out of organic materials within natural environments allows the work, over time, to decay, melt, shift, eventually ceasing to exist. This very process of change is what fascinates Goldsworthy and drives his artistic practice. ‘I was always interested in seeing work change and decay, but usually as a spectator. Lately the challenge has been not simply to wait for things to decay, but to make change an integral part of a work’s purpose so that, if anything, it becomes stronger and more complete as it falls apart and disappears,’ A. Goldsworthy.

Goldsworthy’s use of organic elements in Stacked Sticks brings the viewer’s attention back to nature and more importantly, the systems and processes that govern it. As the work changes over time, Goldsworthy is able to explore the unpredicted and uncontrolled disturbances of the natural environment.