Nadya Steare

As Winter Sets In, Oil on Canvas

In May 2022, I embarked on my first solo adventure to Akureyri, Northern Iceland. Only a few kilometers from the arctic circle, this municipality of 17,000 inhabitants set the stage for what would become the most challenging two months of my art practice thus far. The work resulting from my residency at the Listasafn à Akureyri Art Museum was driven by creative observational research of the neighboring Kjarnaskógur woodlands. This site is regarded as Iceland’s most frequently visited forest and is one of the few reforestation success stories on the island. My greatest impression was of the distinct separation between wilderness and civilization due to the lack of greenery. The few trees on the island, most intentionally planted, were all somewhere along a thin borderline between settled and untouched land. It fascinated me how this phenomenon seemed to cause a lack of middle ground in distance perception. Due to the absence of structures and vegetation between oneself and prominent land features, it was often difficult to tell how large or far away they were. The seeming proximity left me awestruck.

Here Is the Gate, Mixed Medium