I spent two weeks with the Fossekleiva Kultursenter in Berger, Norway, as part of their AiR programme.

 

Snowed-in for the first half, I became captivated by the forested cliff-sides outside, and how their looming presence became erased and veiled by the winter storm. Ever-shifting and reappearing, the dissolution of boundaries felt dissociative; calming and unsettling at the same time.

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Sketching the landscape beyond my cottage windows in the few hours of winter daylight, I tried to capture this illusory weather through charcoal, chalk and bleeding ink. These drawings evolved each day - as the snow melted, mist removed whole fjords and rain made mountains into an oil slick.

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I produced a large body of fabric and paper drawings; the result of intuitively erasing, blending and cutting-up. Slowly, I began to internalise this amorphous environment, seeing it as a reflection of how swiftly and violently emotional states can shift. Disembodied snowdrifts, slippery iced paths, rushing black thaw water under the converted mill.

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As part of the residency I also exhibited a selection of pieces and gave a public talk to the local community.

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January 2023