Art That Explores Erosion
- Marina Chisty
- Jun 25
- 3 min read
The way different artists depict and embody erosion in their work fascinates me and has hugely influenced my current practice and creative evolution. In this post I have picked four works that represent erosion in very different emotive ways.
Snow Storm - Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth, J.M.W. Turner, 1842
To stand in front of one of Turner’s oil paintings is an awe-inspiring experience. They transport viewers into the heart of a storm, out at sea, vulnerable to life's chaos. The paintings don’t just represent storms and turbulent seas, they embody transformation and the often-violent action of dissolution.
In Snow Storm - Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth, Turner envelops a ship in a chaotic vortex of wind, sea and snow. The raw brushwork drags and tears the swirling elements around the canvas: the painting creates a scene eroded by his motion. His brushstrokes are not just marks on canvas; they are movement, a visual record of time dissolving. The colors used create a hopeless and desolate scene, and the movement of paint removes the distinction between the sky and the sea. No reference point – be it the boat, the horizon, or land-mark – is left to guide the viewer.
Spiral Jetty, Robert Smithson, 1970
During the 1960s and 70s Land art, also known as Earthwork, was a conceptual art movement probably most famously represented by Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty.
Spiral Jetty is a 15-foot-wide coil that stretches more than 1,500 feet into the Great Salt Lake in Utah. The artwork was made of black basalt rocks collected directly from the site. The location, called Rozel Point, was chosen by the artist not only for its remote location but also because the water there is affected by a type of algae that changes it to a reddish color.
Spiral Jetty changes with the seasonal fluctuations. When the water levels of the lake rise the artwork is submerged, but when levels are lower the artwork is exposed and encrusted with salt crystals. The artist was interested in the entropic processes of erosion. In this manner, the work is continuously in flux, exposed to the elements, and will always be viewed differently depending on the season, time of day, climatic conditions and the position of the viewer.
A Line Made by Walking, Richard Long, 1967
Similarly to Robert Smithson, artist Richard Long was part of the Land art movement in the 60s and 70s. During this period, he created temporary works that would disintegrate and disappear over time. Often all that would be left to be viewed and exhibited would be the recordings: photographs, maps and text works. In his work A Line Made by Walking, he repeatedly walked up and down a grassed area leaving a fixed line of movement. This temporary work, recorded as a photograph, established the idea that art could be a journey. He continued this practice by walking in different regions and landscapes all over the world including a desert in Peru, the Himalayan mountains, and the volcanic sands of Iceland. His art represents mobility, lightness and freedom of the human spirit as well as the constant changing environments he works within. “The idea of making art out of nothing, I've got a lot of time for that. Walking up and down a field, or carrying a stone in my pocket, it's almost nothing, isn't it?" – Richard Long
Human Erosion in California (Migrant Mother), Dorothea Lange, 1936
Adding the photographic work by social documentary photographer Dorothea Lange, may not initially make sense in a post about erosion depicted in artwork. However, her portraiture work shows the human side of erosion: framing figures with weather-beaten hats, gnarled hands, sun scorned and wrinkled skin. They represent a tough life exposed to the elements where the environment, political and socio-economic factors have worn away at a person’s spirit. This photograph was first published in March 1936 as part of an ongoing story by the San Francisco News about pea pickers' camp in Nipomo in California. Due to the blighted pea crop that year the workers were left without work and desperate. The family pictured were forced to sell their tent to get food. It is one of the most iconic images from the Great Depression.
Have you got any favorite artworks to add to the list? I’d love to know how you feel erosion is depicted in art – please comment below.
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