Me in front of lupins

Sabrina is back from Iceland!

Last June, I had the incredible chance of being chosen to take part in an artistic residency in Blönduós, a town in northern Iceland, for a month. In the land of fire and ice, I spent 30 days without nights. The sun only leapt over the horizon, offering us endless twilights of orange and gold until dawn arrived.

Lumière du crépuscule dans le studio copy

Picture taken of the studio basking in eternal twilight at midnight

An artistic residency gives us time away from our day to day obligations and immerses us in an atmosphere of creation. The inspiration of the place becomes the collaborator and the space becomes the facilitator. At Blönduós, everything was there and even more.

Being a painter, textile artist and geology enthusiast, I took advantage of my stay to create works that connected these points of interest with the place. Iceland’s geology is young and unique, so I wanted to explore the symbiotic links between the soil and its inhabitants. My project extends the beauty and history of these found rocks to the viewer. How even the smallest, seemingly inert rock is part of a whole, sculpting the founding DNA of this Icelandic landscape.

My art works produced in residency.

Imprint – Empreinte
6” x 7” each
Serie of 12 gouache paintings on polypropylène paper, found rocks

Imprint highlight the characters of each rock which was beautifully crafted by thousands of years, pressure and chemistry. Each have a precise yet fluid recipe of minerals which makes their appearance differ from each other. Made in the same place, each is as unique to one another as humans are.

Solstice Shadow – Ombre du Solstice
9” x 11”
Felted wool, basalt rock

Solstice Shadow is about the ground that lays in the shadow of this rock. It shows a distinguished pattern found at the textile museum and on the cover of Ragnheiður Björk Þórsdóttir’s book “Listin að vefa“ (the art of weaving). This pattern is called the Salon Rose and is a staple pattern in Icelandic weaves as it can be customized easily. It is used on a variety of household items like cushion covers, tablecloths, saddle covers. Salon Rose is contained in the rock’s shadow that was traced in Iceland on the solstice day which offers 24 hours sun. The play of highlights in the shadow bridges the creative identity to the land.

Lungs – Poumons
13” x 13”
Found cracked basalt rock, Hand-dyed Þingborg-lopi lambwool, sand

Lungs showcases a found rock naturally cracked in two mimicking the shape of lungs. The alveoli shape of the lopi wool creates a nest for the pair. The fresh air in Blönduós was my collaborator as it generously refreshed my spirit, body and mind.

This trip was a wonderful experience, and I’d like to thank the entire Appwapp team for making it possible for me to go. They are a great team and I owe you one! Thank you to our dear customers who patiently waited for me to return.