Arctic Circle Residency | June '22 | Sarah Nelson

View #1 Land & Water | View #2 Glacier's End #1 | View #3 Glacier's End #2

Watercolor stripes w/ Arctic shore water (includes sediment)

6.11.22 Ice fields at the base of mountains | We saw walruses, seals, terns, & earlier a polar bear

Glacier 6.9.22 | Glacier 6.10.22

6.7.22 Longyearbyen view from back of hotel/Reception at coal miners | The hotel - room 2217 with Hillary N.

6.12.22

Sea ice with hut & mountain 6.13.22

Sea ice 6.12.22

6.16.22

Pale green moss or lichen found in snow | Floweret of a circular series | There are no trees as we know it in the Arctic...or at least not in the Svalbard Arctic Regions. There is a lot life however. It's flourishing & microscopic.

Small Svalbard tree | Lichen | Rockweed and seaweed | Beach lichen | Moss

The abandoned expedition measuring the top of the Earth | 7.3.22

7.2.22

6.18.22

6.18.22 | 6.18.22 Raining at glacier top

Quickly melting glacier in the rain | 6.19.22

6.19.22 | Rocky & muddy terrain | The island that is receding from

Cotton-like flowers found in Pyramiden | Mushroom found in Pyramiden | Small balloon like buds with burgundy & white stripes & white blooms. Small. First seen in Pyramiden. | Small purple flowers in Pyramiden.

An attempt at catching the reliefs of some plant fossils | 6.23.22

Seed vault | 7.7.22 | Newly reconstructed interior because the permafrost no longer protects it or cools it.

View from Longyearbyen Glacier | 6.23.22

Airfrance info \\\ The journey home was an adventure in itself culminating to a perfect bow of chaos when they lost my bag with my soaked papers! 6.26.22 \\\ *No real food for 24 hrs. *Didn’t have to run with my duffle…but then they lost it. *No internet on flights so I didn’t get updates for 12 hrs. \\\ Highlights: Up at 7:30. Takes 3ish hours to check in &drop bags because they lost my flight reservation from CDG (Paris) to LAX! I begged to not miss my flight & budged in security & ran like my life depended on it. Then I caught my flight & on my flight saw they changed my second flight only giving me 1 hr & 20 min layover to get to my second flight. I had to go through passport control w/out a boarding pass for my next flight. The lone too an hr. I ran again & had 5 mins to make a 20 min journey. Miraculously they gave me a pass & I got home early!

6.29.22 | My fav. spot

Boats are hard…this is not good. The Antigua is very pretty. I will try again.

7.2.22

Marker samples & tests 7.2.22 | Studies

7.2.22

7.7.22

Views of Ymerbukta 7.2.22

7.2.22

Arctic scenes of black & white | Almost like spheric trays | 7.3.22

Mountains & ice 7.7.22

7.12.22 Trash robe iceberg

Scheibukta 7.12.22

Knots of trash study 7.15.22 | Trash combined by ocean currents. Found by fellow residents on an island with walrus bones. | Shell Handy Oil | Pure irony...drawn with blue micron pen.

Top | Bottom | 7.29.22

Encounters 7.30.22

7.18.22 I was sick with Covid as this happened so these are based on the photos by Sarah G.

Arc-de-Meridian 8.16.22 | Front view

Yellow Airport Pyramiden View 1 | View 2

Why wrapped works? \\\ The implied material > Man made casually or traditionally from natural materials (fibers) > a manmade construction affecting the reality & outcome of non-manmade environments. Or trying to control them/shape/tame them. \\\ The look is minimally complex or hyperfocused complexity. > tightly wrapped > intertwined > coming apart/coming together > looks sculptural \\\ The thread is clear > or is it white? Or is it black? \\\ The hidden life of ice Consequences & action Negative space Existence & disappearance \\\ The way ice changes > is also directly affected by our actions, but lends itself to a visual language that feels in flux & can represent a momentary state & lack of stability. \\\ The time & repetition of creating a wrapped piece, can mentally engage or disengage a person. But every action & movement is clear. There is no room for error. Every line is dedicated or passive decisions & action culminating in the final work. \\\ Making it simple reveals the culminating power or repetition – intentional or otherwise & simple or complex. \\\ For now – the black and white feels appropriate. Other elements & colors could emerge in the future. But the factual feel of B&W feel like the right approach. \\\ > Water melts ice faster \\\ – Repetition or something simple can create complexity. – \\\ Looking at something familiar in a new “state” feels like an opportunity to speak to the action & human element in the crisis. It allows the ignorance to pass through us & root when we make crisis familiar. We become blind to it. \\\ Familiarity can create blindness & ignorance.