An Hour in Nature with artist Tom Butterworth

Tom Butterworth is a 30 year-old self-taught sculptor living on Garigal land in northern Sydney. He shapes his distinctive vessels and sculptures in Hawkesbury Sandstone: a responsive, honey-coloured rock from which a lot of colonial Sydney was built.

But Hawkesbury Sandstone has a much longer and more illustrious pedigree than that. Millions of years old, it’s also the surface upon which many Aboriginal rock carvings were made and still endure. Tom says the sandstone enables him to create beauty and functionality from part of Australia’s natural landscape, and he often rescues remnants from construction sites, to avoid any of this precious material being discarded or destroyed. We asked Tom about his connection with nature.

What’s your favorite thing to do in nature?

Definitely surfing. I’ve never felt more comfortable, uncomfortable, alive, loved, held, blasted, blissful, in awe, touched or connected when surfing. The ocean is a powerful place with many moving parts of energy.

The wildlife plays its part. One highlight, super early in the mornings as the sun is just rising, is when a pelican flies past. All you see is a silhouette of this huge bird seamlessly floating through the air. The wind plays its role, especially when it connects with a wave and leaves a spray of rainbow out the back. Each time I’m in the ocean I connect through feelings and words and there’s moments when I’ve definitely felt a response.

Do you believe nature has a consciousness or spirit? How does that belief shape your interactions with the environment?

It’s alive for sure and has plenty of wisdom.

How do you bring nature into your home?

Through my art practice. To be able to immerse the exterior back into the interior with a sustainable approach is such a beautiful thing I’m so grateful for. Geologists reckon Hawkesbury Sandstone is up to 250 million years old. To be able to hand-create one of a kind sculptures from a material this old brings a whole new feeling to one’s space.