Point of View: The Mindful Studio: Earth Art

From the landscapes of the Impressionists and Hudson River School to the iconic photography of Ansel Adams, the natural world has long been a source of inspiration for artists.

Not only is nature a creative muse, but much of the media artists use to create with are the products of nature; for example, wood, charcoal, and graphite for mark making and clay and water for ceramics and sculpture.

Earth Art and Artists
Land art, or earth art, is a form of nature-based art that involves working directly with the land. Emerging as a conceptual art movement in the 1960s and 1970s, it brought together a group of artists interested in working with natural spaces and materials.

One of the better-known examples of earth art is Robert Smithsonʼs Spiral Jetty, located in Utahʼs Great Salt Lake. Smithson used over 6,000 tons of black basalt rocks and earth from the site, forming a coil 1,500 feet long and fifteen feet wide that extends off the shore into the water.

Cuban artist Ana Mendieta is also considered a pioneer of land art. In her work, she used her own body in combination with natural elements to explore the connection between life and death.

English artist Andy Goldsworthy is known for his site-specific sculptures and land art situated in natural and urban environments. He documents his ephemeral works through photography.

Crista Cammarotoʼs Terra Form series engages directly with the earth as both subject and medium. She describes the work as a response to our relationship with sustenance and place, using natural materials within spherical forms.

Another artist, Laura Loescher, also creates nature-based installations. She explains, “It was a meditative experience placing the first acorn, and the next, and letting the patterns emerge. My nervous system settled. My heart opened. I felt so grateful for the simple act of co-creating art with the natural world.”

Mindful Walking and Meditation
Working with nature is a lovely way for students to connect with the natural world. When mindfulness is included, students can use all their senses to cultivate experiential and creative learning.

Practice mindful walking as students leave the building and head to the natural area, supporting them in becoming aware of their surroundings and how their mind and body feel while moving. For this mindfulness practice, encourage students to walk in silence. Invite them to notice each step they take and the movement of the foot—heel first, then the front of the foot. Ask them to take a breath with each step.

Once students have arrived at the natural area, offer a short meditation, inviting them to be still and notice the experience in nature by using all their senses. Students may notice the sounds of birds, the rustle of wind on leaves, or the movement of air on their skin. Invite them to see if they can focus on a smell or perhaps a taste while being mindful.

Earth Art Installations
Once the meditation is complete, guide students to work individually or in small groups using the following steps adapted from Laura Loescher:

Wander and look around with new eyes. Take in the colors, textures, and patterns all around. Look up into the branches and look down onto the ground. Pick up, gather, and clip things that attract their attention and store them in a bag to use later. Use items you find and try not to disturb plants that are still growing.
Find a patch of dirt, a stump, or any other background to use as the “canvas” for your installation. If being outdoors is not possible, students can work indoors using soil or sand and placing it on a neutral piece of fabric.
Begin by placing something in the center of the “canvas” and working outward in a radial pattern, or you could use concentric rings to build a framework. Once the framework is in place, begin filling in the design with found objects. See what patterns emerge and consider shapes and repetition. Trust your intuition.
As you continue to place items, pay attention to when it “feels” done. Take a break and sit with your work, noticing when enough is enough.
When you are finished, photograph your design and write a reflection of your experience.

Being in the Moment
One student wrote: “We had a lot of fun doing this assignment. Instead of going into it with an idea of what we were going to do, we looked at what we had available and went from there. It felt like we were making a wedding for fairies, which I think all of us enjoyed because it brought us back to childhood. I really enjoyed stringing the flowers together and using water to create different values...”

A group of students wrote: “We first started off assessing the environment and collected piles of items we could use. Then we color-coordinated the items. From there, we just kind of added and adjusted as we went. [We] felt like it was a mindful process because we added things, reflected, and then took away or added things based on whether they felt they belonged or not. In all, it was a fun process, especially doing it as a group.”