Andoni Bastarrika specializes in turning wet beach sand into sculptures of animals so realistic that they look as if they’ve just crawled out of the sea.
For most people, a trip to the beach means enjoying the ocean, tanning in the sun or perhaps building some sandcastles.
Originally from the Basque region of Spain, the gifted artist uses the local beaches as the canvas for his land art.
He doesn’t limit his creations to animals either (in fact, his inspiration for this path started when he made a sand mermaid for his daughters more than a decade ago).
To start, he finds an elevated platform that overlooks the coast and begins depositing his buckets of sand there. (Full gallery below).
Then, the self-taught artist moulds the wet sand (and other materials) by hand and sometimes with sticks until he achieves a spookily realistic subject.
For example, the life-size sculpture of the bull (Above) uses real horns on its head and rocks on its hooves.
At initial glance, the animal looks startlingly real, as if it were literally taking a nap by the ocean.
Bastarrika takes particular inspiration from the freedom and power that animals symbolize for him.
Depending on the scale of the project, each animal can take up to two days of work to sculpt.
So without further ado, please enjoy the gallery below of these incredible works of art:
To see more of Andoni Bastarrika’s work, find his Instagram here
