Andre's Amador's sand art
Journalist Laura Sandhill meets up with the artist on a beach in San Francisco
A. With a collection of three-pronged forks and hand-assembled rakes cast over one shoulder, the artist Andres Amador quietly descends the steep, crumbling dunes arching over a San Francisco shoreline to the beach below. Scanning the horizon, stopping every so often to smile and pick up smooth stones, he walks until he finds a wide enough stretch of wet sand to serve as his canvas. Soon, it will come to life, etched with the large-scale angles and arches which are characteristic of his captivating Earthscape designs. 'It's a race against time, he says while he prepares, and there is little time to waste. The tide that is retreating as he begins will soon regain its ground, sweeping over his work just moments after it is created. But that, as he acknowledges, is part of the point.
B. 'People don't always fee comfortable with artists doing something that seems like it has no real purpose - which really is all art on some level,' Amador says. ‘But I have fully bought into the idea that there's a much bigger thing occurring. Art plays a greater role than humanity, or at least our society, gives it credit for.’ He has spent many years sketching his sprawling artwork into sand across California, Mexico, and New Zealand. The designs are always different, but the results are the same. Beach joggers, laughing children, and soggy dogs pause their seaside fun to observe the lanky man in a sunhat, who moves rhythmically over the surface of the sand. At first, the winding lines he creates don't look like much. But, with a quiet intensity, he soon rakes them into shape, working with care and precision to produce the fleeting piece of art that will astound those who chance upon it.
C. While Amador's work was originally inspired by geometric shapes and constructed with straight lines, he has since expanded his technique, taking cues from the environment and replicating its patterns and processes. 'In that sense,' he says, 'there is really a science component to the artwork.' The point is personal: Amador has a degree in environmental science, and was once a computer technician, until an experience at an arts festival gave him permission, as he describes it, to create just for the sake of creation. 'I had to let go of ideas I had around who can be creative and what art is and what the value of art is,' he says. His first Earthscape art was created at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. Ten years later, his passion became a full-time occupation - he now sells photographs and prints of his sand art, creates commissioned art, and conducts workshops. 'It has been a huge evolution for me. The art has guided me, helped me to let go of certainty and absolutes, and I've become open to the mystery of what can emerge,' says Amador.
D. When it is finished, Amador's piece on the San Francisco beach stretches for thousands of feet and stops passers-by in their tracks. 'Getting the idea out of my head and seeing it become a physical reality is its own reward,' he says. With a drone, he takes a picture of the work from above, smiling at what he has accomplished. An excited crowd gathers as the water begins to wash away the edges of the design. Amador's designs are truly amazing, but he shows little sign of arrogance about his work, He hopes his art will inspire others to appreciate the moment and to have the courage to express their own artistry, for its own sake. 'There is something deeper inside that we all have to offer, that doesn't exist yet in the world, he says. 'The world deserves to have it.'
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