Andy Goldsworthy
Goldsworthy is at play with the relentless flow of the elements, forming fragile and temporary moments in time.
Goldsworthy made work with snowballs, ice and natural materials, the melting process on watercolour paper echoing the processes in the natural world.
The drawings in this exhibition are made with snowballs, ice and natural materials from different locations: Borrowdale graphite, Borrowdale slate, Derwent water, Drumlanrig clay, Pit clay, and earth from the source of the Scaur River, Penport. The process of the snowballs melting on watercolour paper and forming the drawings echoes processes in the natural world: erosion, sedimentation, ice and flow. The visual structure and colour qualities thus produced are extraordinary.
The Ice and Snow Drawings have two main sources. The first Arctic Snowballs of 1989 resulted from an experience Goldsworthy had while out hunting with his Inuit guide Luti and his son. Coming across a breathing hole in the ice pack, Luti circled around at a distance, moving towards the hole, while his son stood ready with his gun in anticipation of the rising seal.
Dark blood dripped and trailed in the snow as the sledge moved off, carrying carcass and hunters. The seal was caught by the hunterâs instinct and knowledge of its survival habits.
The second source for the Snowball Drawings was an experience made by Goldsworthy following an exhibition at Glasgowâs Tramway. His large snowballs, which gradually melted during the course of the show, left an afterimage caused by the âimpuritiesâ in the snowball.
On another occasion in the Arctic, Goldsworthy and his guides came across a polar bearâs tracks in the snow. Running parallel to this were the tracks of a mechanised skidou. Lutiâs comment was simply: âdead bear.â
This experience of immersion in the natural world continues with the snowball drawings, but other questions arise. In the drawing with graphite from Borrowdale â one of the main sources for this material â there is a dual process: on the one hand natural, on the other with the artistâs participation. Who, or what, is making the drawing?
The oeuvre of artist Andy Goldsworthy utilises âfoundâ natural objects like leaves, rocks, ice and sticks to create captivating, often ephemeral interventions into the natural landscape that remind us of the power of natural beauty and the continuously changing seasons. Architectural writer Eva Menuhin discusses some of the traits in his work, which has recently become more monolithic yet is still concerned with movement, natural materiality and time, as seen in his work in progress âHanging Stonesâ.
















