About

Standing in front of Mark Goldsworthy’s 3 in a boat, I find myself feeling how easily I could be in Norwich Cathedral, the sculpture having gently floated itself from the bosses, off to a new life elsewhere. Equally, they could have rowed themselves from the pages of the Macclesfield or Gorleston psalters, still unsure where they may have come from or where they may be heading…

If the Romanesque is Mark’s natural hinterland, 3 in a boat may signal a small but significant shift from some element of narrative to an increasing concern with form. This search for simplicity follows two paths, differing but by no means exclusive. The first looks way back from Cycladic and Sumerian cultures to the latter days of Palaeolithic period, the other, back to 1914 and the articulation and explanation of Significant Form - an insistence on the value of the work, the object itself and its ability to elicit an emotional response.

Whatever period these ‘feedings’ come from and wherever their roots lie, they belong to a world where art had to function, had to ‘work’ and in these specific roles, be the gateway from simplicity to universality.

So, the key to Mark’s current work is the reduced concern for appearance and a stronger weighting towards essence. Here, materials are integral to his intentions: Holly or cedar, limestone or granite all give slowly, to be listened to with care and understanding. Gradually their secrets emerge. With patience and tenacity, the work unfolds and through consummate craftsmanship the finished work is born.

The studio and workshops are high on an elevated ridge of the Waveney valley. Among the bird life and Mark’s animals – the atmosphere is one of peace and purposeful quietness. Stacked shelves testify both to his industry and to his rigour. What appear to be finished pieces turn out to be still unresolved or not yet meeting the exacting standards needed to exhibit. Tiny fragments, at first seem like clippings or cut-offs but when cradled in the hand, suffuse with life and hours of patient working – a 3D sketchbook hinting at directions where future work may go. The work is both of its time and about Mark’s time. It is deeply serious and yet, humour sparks from it. It is humane to the core and manages to communicate the aliveness in its making and the sense of ‘being in the world’ of its maker. Brancusi, Hepworth, and Hans Arp spring to mind. More unexpected is Rothko, less in his paintings than in his writing.

This synthesis view of art seems entirely congruent with how Mark lives and works … today he is chipping away at a block of Norwegian granite with 300 million years history and weighing in at roughly a small family car. The dappled spring sunshine seems fleeting and ephemeral, yet, the scene of Mark bent over, mallet and chisel in hand, somehow seems very permanent.