Year 1 Andy Goldsworthy Inspired Outdoor Art

The focus for children in school was on making outdoor art in the style of Andy Goldsworthy. The children had great fun creating their own individual land art using natural materials.

Andy Goldsworthy’s art makes us think about the world around us and how nature is art. It reminds us of our connection to nature. Goldsworthy is one of Britain’s best modern sculptors and he makes land art using natural materials that are available to make works of art that sit directly in the landscape. He made works of art using stone, sand, water, leaves, flowers, berries, ice, snow, feathers, bone and even dung. We decided to have a go but didn’t use animal dung!

Firstly, we looked at lots of photographic examples of Goldsworthy’s land art and then Year 1 went into Epping Forest. Everyone gathered natural materials to use and then we found a clear space to make our art. This is what we made:

Enis: I made a happy face. I used sticks for the outline of the face, two rocks for the eyeballs, two acorn caps for the pupils and sticks to make the smile.

Emily: I made a miniature tree with lots of treasures in the branches. I made it out of acorns, sticks and flowers.

Zakariya: I found a special log and placed treasures on the top. These included a red leaf, a little feather, acorn caps and buttercups.

Noah-Hussain: I made a lollypop ice cream out of sticks, leaves and a small log.

Irina: I chose to make a tent which was a little girl’s home. I used a feather, grass, sticks, leaves and flowers.

Emran: I made a snake which was camouflaged in the grass. I used a long stick for the body and decorated it with leaves.

We learned in school that Andy Goldsworthy revisits his land art later to see what changes have occurred. We talked about what our land art might look like if we went back to see it. Half the class thought it would look the same and half the class thought it would look different. When we went back we noticed many changes and our land art looked very different from the wind and maybe animals. When we returned we used wooden frames to showcase our land art.

By Mrs Taylor