The real life FroZone, Andy Goldsworthy creates land art sculptures that live to die. Goldworthy’s ice sculptures are incredibly intricate. Delicate. Dream-like. His process is meditative. His patience is unmatched. And nature’s appreciation for his touch is evident in the works presented.

‍

For nearly five decades, Andy has been a collaborator of nature, creating land art that’s guided by location and site-specific contributions from nature herself. He looks for forms and shapes that naturally inform his idea, works are often produced with those organic shapes to create his sculptures.  Generally, his ice sculptures are made with no machinery or artifice – just careful hands, keen timing, and a deep understanding of natural freeze-thaw cycles.

‍

‍

The English artist was born in 1956. Andy’s early experience as a farm laborer shaped his connection to nature and a deep understanding of seasons. Goldworthy studied at Bradford School of Art and Preston Polytechnic before dedicating himself to land art in the mid-1970s.  He realized that he enjoyed creating art outdoors, rather than inside of a studio. His first-site specific works included rock sculptures on the beach near his art school.

“I work in a landscape that is enriched by the people who have lived, worked, and died there…and you can feel their presence in the landscape."

‍

Goldsworthy’s Touching North, 1989, part 4 out of 4, North Pole, was one of the rare occasions where Goldsworthy incorporated traditional knowledge as a “tool”- rare, because its use was tailored to the extreme environment in which he planned to work. It was assembled from on-site materials and carefully placed together to form 4 massive sculptures. The material was cut and built in the white on white environment.

‍

‍

From an Interview with Public Delivery, the artist learned these snow-cutting and packing techniques from a traditional indigenous source, an Inuit based in the Ellesmere Island, Canada’s third-largest island, the 10th-largest island in the world and the most northerly island in the Arctic Archipelago.

‍

His collaborations with nature in cold environments are by far my favorite. They feel delicate, otherworldly, and ephemeral.

‍

‍

In his documentary that takes place in multiple seasonal conditions, Rivers and Tides, you can see Andy’s relationship with nature to be holistic- and almost performative. 

‍

‍

‍

At 4 a.m. on a Nova Scotia coast, you can see Andy biting icicle tips to get the exact measurements for a sculpture.  Holding it in place for many minutes until it naturally freezes back into place, as if he was aiding nature in her manner of operation.

‍

‍

Piece by piece, he attaches icicles or ice chunks in place, patiently holding each for many minutes so that the cold air can refreeze it into the desired position​. He lets the ice set itself.

‍

‍

“I hope that in my own way, that I’ve left the place a little richer…”