Theatrum Orbis Terrarum: PolUs ArcticUs
Etching, aquatint and mezzotint on Somserset Satin White 405 gsm, 2024. (See individual images for details).
These prints were created during my residency with ARTICA Svalbard (March-June 2024), through which I was nominated by QSPA. I have long had a strong fascination for the Silk Road and global trade routes between the East and the West. During my stay at ARTICA Svalbard, I became particularly interested in the Arctic as a "Res communis", a common area without an owner, where conflicting global and cultural interests become increasingly prevalent as the polar ice is melting and new trade routes and underwater minerals are becoming accessible. Many of these prints draw visual elements from old maps and expedition illustrations, including the Barentsz map, Olaus Magnus' Carta Marina and Gerardus Mercator's Septentrionalium Terrarum.
From the exhibition Theatrum Orbis Terrarum at Kunstverket Galleri, Oslo, 2024.
Photos: Trond A. Isaksen