Alternative Landscapes
“Alternative Landscapes” is an investigation in the ever changing landscapes of frozen water. As I developed a deeper connection to ice through my interest in figure skating, I started searching for the memories that are captured in us and ice. During this research my aim was to get to know the connection between my current home and their inhabitants. Spending my semester in Dalsland gave me the possibility to learn more about their changing states and the identity of their residents that is rooted here. The close and simultaneous work between field work and workshop gave me the possibility to transform my new learned knowledge from companions and the ice into textiles. Experimenting with textile surfaces lead me to three dimensional layeredsculptures. Those frozen bodies of water display the momentum and the collected memories, I want to give further in an experience. The viewer is invited to walk through those hanging lightweight sculptures, that seem to get alive.
I think there’s a disconnect between climate change and the local, everyday impacts,” Dr. Sharma said. “If you think about climate change in winter, you’re thinking about polar bears and ice sheets, but not about these activities that are just ingrained in our culture.
(Dr. Sapna Sharma, 2020)
My prints showcase detailed shots of the ice, that I partly collage. The prints are not just the ones I made, but also the so called ghost prints. The ones that were still on the frame from the predessors, which sometimes reveal visible memories during the printing process.
Knitting with very fine linen yarn, that has the characteristic of being tight let me feel the filigree even stronger – which lead me wanting to understand the cooperation with the yarn and the machine in detail. Once I loose a loop the structure changes completely.
The wish of showing the many differ- ent layers and the changing landscape lead me to translucent materials, such as silk, plastic wrapping, glueing foil or loose knitted structures. Those mate- rials give me the possibility to create windows into complex dimensions of worlds.
