A Landscape Artist in Winter

"The British artist Andy Goldsworthy moved to Penpont, a village in southwest Scotland, in 1986, when he was thirty. The area's initial appeal was twofold. Property was cheap, which meant that Goldsworthy and his wife at the time, Judith Gregson, could acquire an unrenovated stone building that had likely once stored grain. This structure could serve as a workspace and, for a while, as a rough-and-ready home."

"Goldsworthy, who grew up close to Leeds, in the North of England, has remained in Penpont for forty years. Its hills are marked with the traces of what he calls his "ephemeral work," including an elm tree that fell across the downhill course of a stream a quarter century ago and which, as it has decayed, Goldsworthy has used as both a sculptural form and a palette, in an endless variety of ways."

Andy Goldsworthy settled in Penpont, southwest Scotland, in 1986, attracted by cheap property and a customary right to roam across farmland. The surrounding hills, stone walls, and streams function as his studio, where he assembles works from stacked stones, interlaced leaves, and threaded wool that often decay quickly. Over forty years he has transformed fallen trees, stone walls, and local materials into transient sculptures, using elements like vivid leaves and snagged sheep's wool to alter textures and color. Some constructions, such as a sandstone cairn, cycle with the seasons, disappearing under summer growth and reappearing in winter.

Read at The New Yorker