Remy Geerts and Paul Hoggard Create Zero Impact Works of Art

Even when the two aren’t working at life-threatening heights, sand sculpting is a strenuous task. On average, Geerts and Hoggard shovel and shape 20 tons of sand per sculpture. They pride themselves on their healthy lifestyle, which includes a vegetarian diet, yoga, and restraint from alcohol.

And the artistic duo doesn’t weep when high tide comes rolling in on their hard work.

“We came to terms with the fact that everything in life is temporary,” Geerts said. “Our sand sculptures are there for the moment. A lot of people see them and enjoy them, we take lots of pictures, and then we let the sculpture go. I always feel like it is the same as taking lots of time cooking a fantastic meal and then eating it, or rehearsing for a play and then performing it. We celebrate the fact that our work has absolutely no negative impact on our precious environment. We feel only joy when the sea takes our sculpture back.”

While both Geerts and Hoggard have been working with sand for many years, the one experience they will never forget is that of their first carving.

For Hoggard this venture started on a trip to India when, whilst relaxing in the blissful environment surrounded by pristine water and sand in Northern Goa, a revelation appeared under his hands.

“I made my first sand sculpture on Baga beach in India. I was in paradise for the first time and truly relaxed; to my astonishment a face of Bob Marley appeared in the sand under my hands,” Hoggard explained. “From then on I was hooked. After my initial Indian sculpture, I started to create sculptures on many different beaches in Spain and the Canary Islands as a way to pay for my travels. Sand is universal. I would head for the coast when I needed to replenish my funds. I worked this way for 10 years and sand sculpture fed me and kept me alive.”
Geerts experience was entirely different. Having begun sculpting in 1999, she realized her passion and talent for this fortitude during an excursion with a team of sand artists that needed a helping hand in their work.

“A group of sand artists needed an assistant and started training me. At first they would make the beautiful big impressive sculptures and let me finish off the bottom. Then I got to make small simple sculptures, and within months, I was creating big complicated ones.”
Since then, the two have brought their work beyond the beach, creating in art galleries, shopping malls, hotel lobbies, and even a cathedral. Yet their undertakings do not end there. Geerts and Hoggard teach two and three-dimensional sculpture to both children and adults, and when they’re not working, they quietly unwind on their farm in Bulgaria from which they often concoct their own vegetable and fruit produce including delicious fruit preserves.

But Geerts insists, “there is of course nothing like working on the beach, with the wind in our hair and the sound of waves rolling onto the beach. That is bliss!”

For more information on the artists and their ventures visit http://www.sandsculpture.co.uk.