Ice Watch Studies #1

“Ice Watch Studies” recreates an elusive Arctic seascape. The title refers to the constant watch kept during the MaréMotrice residency, to avoid striking icebergs as we sailed through Greenland’s foggy fjords. These were full of uncertainty and wonder as hulking bergs peeked through the fog like ghosts and prompted reflection upon recordkeeping, loss, and at-risk local and global environments. These are unconventionally printed to fragment imagery via stencils and inking only parts of images; furthering their connection to calving glaciers, melting icebergs, and Arctic mirages. Two etching plates were printed over each other multiple times in different orientations to create new and abstracted imagery. Stencils made of torn newsprint were used to block ink during the printing process, creating the white shapes throughout the works. The stencils were continually torn apart and reused throughout the series so that the stencil shapes become self-referential but are constantly transforming and deteriorating. In the Arctic, land, sea, and sky meld. Waves seamlessly become fog and the horizon disappears. Atmospheric shapes chase and erase solid forms as imagery is swept away. This is a modular piece whose layout and individual elements change each time it's presented to mimic a glacier growing and shrinking. Viewers assume their own contemplative ice watch in this sublime environment that is crucial to our everyday lives.