Sand Artist Creates Incredibly Lifelike Animal Sculptures Using Sand

The capacity of a multimedia artist to adapt any material into a medium is genuinely admirable. Andoni Bastarrika, a talented artist from Spain’s Basque Country, found the unrivaled potential of sand as an artistic medium. While many of us like building sandcastles on the beach, Andoni’s awe-inspiring sand masterpieces far transcend our efforts.

These sand sculptures are usually made on beaches or other sandy regions with damp sand that may be readily molded and shaped. People frequently congregate around the artisans as they build magnificent sand animal sculptures.

His art focuses on animals from the natural world, such as bulls and sharks. Andoni’s designs are so lifelike that anybody who views them, particularly from a distance, would swear they’re genuine!

They knew what they were doing,” the multimedia artist said to Bored Panda. “I dedicated myself to honing this talent and have spent the past ten years doing so.”

“I’m fascinated by the sand because, no matter how you look at it, it will always teach you something if you’re willing to learn.” An unimaginable number of sand particles collaborate in the creation of a sculpture, embracing each other intimately via dampness so that their union might be modeled.

Although there are numerous reasons why Andoni enjoys sand as a medium, he believes this is the most important: its behavior. He also enjoys creating sand animal sculptures because they are “free spirits” that people may “reflect and learn from.”

“Humans ‘overdress’ in many ways to survive.” I have never created, and will never create, an animal with a necklace or chains. “Rather than suffering, I prefer to embrace their freedom, power, and wisdom through beauty,” he continued.

To add authenticity to his art, he sometimes uses additional elements such as coal powder, clay powder, colored stone powder, ashes, and glass shards.

The length of time it takes him to finish one artwork is determined by its size. He spent two days, for example, making the elephant sculpture and 12 hours finishing the bison and horse. The smallest dogs require between six and eight hours.