Quotes by Andy Goldsworthy

About Andy Goldsworthy:

Andy Goldsworthy is a British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist producing site-specific sculpture and land art situated in natural and urban settings. He lives and works in Scotland.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

I have walked around the same streets so many times, and then seen a place that had been hidden to me. I now know the sites in a way that makes me think I could have made better use of the connections between place and snowball.

Andy Goldsworthy

Not being able to touch is sometimes as interesting as being able to touch.

Andy Goldsworthy

The hardened mass of liquid stones had much stronger qualities than those which had simply torn. The skin remained a recognisable part of the molten stone.

Andy Goldsworthy

I did tests on small stones before collecting and committing myself to the larger ones.

Andy Goldsworthy

Stones are checked every so often to see if any have split or at worst exploded. An explosion can leave debris in the elements so the firing has to be abandoned.

Andy Goldsworthy

Three or four stones in one firing will all react differently. I try to achieve a balance between those that haven't progressed enough and those about to go too far.

Andy Goldsworthy

Once the fired stone is out of the kiln, it is still possible to mentally reconstruct it in its original form.

Andy Goldsworthy

The first snowball I froze was put in my mother's deep freeze when I was in my early 20s.

Andy Goldsworthy

The reason why the stone is red is its iron content, which is also why our blood is red.

Andy Goldsworthy

People do not realise that many of my works are done in urban places. I was brought up on the edge of Leeds, five miles from the city centre-on one side were fields and on the other, the city.

Andy Goldsworthy

Some of the snowballs have a kind of animal energy. Not just because of the materials inside them, but in the way that they appear caged, captured.

Andy Goldsworthy

Winter makes a bridge between one year and another and, in this case, one century and the next.

Andy Goldsworthy

The difference between a theatre with and without an audience is enormous. There is a palpable, critical energy created by the presence of the audience.

Andy Goldsworthy

I take the opportunity each day offers.

Andy Goldsworthy

As with all my work, whether it's a leaf on a rock or ice on a rock, I'm trying to get beneath the surface appearance of things. Working the surface of a stone is an attempt to understand the internal energy of the stone.

Andy Goldsworthy

It takes between three and six hours to make each snowball, depending on snow quality. Wet snow is quick to work with but also quick to thaw, which can lead to a tense journey to the cold store.

Andy Goldsworthy

I am not a performer but occasionally I deliberately work in a public context. Some sculptures need the movement of people around them to work.

Andy Goldsworthy

Photography is a way of putting distance between myself and the work which sometimes helps me to see more clearly what it is that I have made.

Andy Goldsworthy

Author Bio

  • NameAndy Goldsworthy
  • DescriptionBritish sculptor and photographer
  • BornJuly 26, 1956
  • CountryUnited Kingdom
  • ProfessionPhotographer; Sculptor
  • Works
  • AwardsOfficer Of The Order Of The British Empire