Hannah Edward and The Arctic Circle Residency Expedition Fundraiser

[22/05/15]

Hannah Edward, Untitled (Renegade), 2014

Hannah Edward is a London-based artist who investigates the concepts of landscape, both as represented through images and as physical geological forms. She will be embarking alongside international participants of varying backgrounds on The Arctic Circle residency in October 2015. Together they will sail The High Arctic Sea to research and document the Arctic’s fast-changing environment.

Worm speaks to Hannah about her work, the expedition and her fundraising to reach the Arctic.

How do your concepts of landscape and the environment come to play in your work?

Life in modern cities is so disconnected with the ‘natural’ world, or perhaps rather our romantic notions of what that might be. Our fruit and vegetables are shipped in from all around the world and conveniently presented to us in one shop no matter what the season. It might be December, but you can still buy strawberries, perhaps still with the vestiges of mud clinging to them in order to retain a sense of ‘authenticity’. Meat and fish are similarly appropriated and available, without the consumer ever having to worry about the de-scaling of a fish, or plucking of a chicken.

I feel that this disconnection extends to our idealised constructs of landscapes – we imagine the countryside outside the city to be rolling hills and dales, quaint farms and hedgerows. In my mind the countryside resembles something along the lines of Lizzie Bennet’s holiday in Derbyshire with her Aunt and Uncle. As her sister says “What are men to rocks and mountains?”

While studying at Edinburgh College of Art I began to explore landscapes in my work. Questioning what we perceive landscapes to be and the methods of presentation – such as the printed image.

For my degree show I created two installations dealing with these ideas: One (‘Crest’) attempted to re-insert the traditional horizon line into a feature-less landscape, while the other (‘Hologram’) explored the idea of depth in a flat image.

Working with images that perpetuate romantic idealised landscapes, such as picture postcards, is interesting to me. I find myself pulling apart these images, separating out the layers and deconstructing the landscape, highlight that it is only a constructed, flattened image. It has lost all dimensionality and, like family photographs, only shows the happier moments of nature.

Since graduating my work has continued to focus on the exploration of landscapes, through a variety of media, and has inevitably become influenced by ‘eco-aesthetics’. I hope through this expedition I can explore and deepen my understanding of what ‘eco-aesthetics’ are and what that means in relation to my own work.

Hannah Edward, Hologram, 2013

What does your upcoming residency The Arctic Circle involve?

The Arctic Circle is an incredible expeditionary residency program that has run annually since 2009. They lead two expeditions each year and invite participants to spend 3 weeks on a sailing vessel exploring The High Arctic Sea.

The residency brings together participants from all over the world, from a huge range of disciplines. The expeditions include scientists, educators, writers and architects, as well as artists.

I first heard of the program while in college and applied as soon as I graduated, I feel very honoured to be included in the expedition and am looking forward to meeting the other participants.

During residency I will have the opportunity to experiment, collaborate, make work and gather documentation of the incredible Arctic landscape.

Hannah Edward, Mountains, 2013

What do you hope to research and how do you feel it may influence your work?

This residency will no doubt have a profound impact on my work. I plan to treat the expedition as a fact finding/research mission. I will observe, record and gather as much material and documentation as possible, using film and still cameras, drawing and writing, and other processes.

There are some specific process and ideas that I would like to experiment with during the expedition, but at the same time I would like to see what develops naturally and organically. I don’t want to have a strict or rigid plan in place that I feel bound to, as I feel this can often remove a certain element of chance.

I recently had a conversation with a previous participant and was advised “not to build structures before I go, but allow them to build themselves”. I intend to use the work I will do there, and the material I’ll bring back, as the basis of a major new body of work I hope to exhibit in 2016.

How do you feel the spectacular location of this residency will alter or strengthen your thoughts on the environment and the landscape?

Seeing the Arctic first hand for an extended period of time will be a very powerful experience. As much as we see images and videos in the media of the impact of global warming and climate change, seeing it without an intermediary will be a unique experience.

I hope that the body of work that arises from expedition will help to raise awareness of the devastating impact climate change is having on the Arctic. By making work that highlights the fragility and precarity of the ecosystem I hope to engage a new audience with the problems and consequences the Arctic is facing in a resonant way.

How can we find out more and help you fundraise for The Arctic Circle residency?

I need to raise $2500 to cover the costs of the practicalities of this expedition. This money will be spent on equipment, cold weather clothing, artist materials and transportation to and from Svalbard. I am launching a crowd funding campaign in order to raise this money, which, if anyone would like to make a much-appreciated donation, can be accessed at my Rocket Hub page.

To find out more about The Arctic Circle you can visit their website at https://www.thearcticcircle.org/# and learn more about my own work, www.hannahedward.co.uk