Tholen vs. Iceland

In 2022 I spent a month as Artist-in-Residence at SIM Seljavegur in Reykjavik Iceland, followed by a month at Gilfelag in Akureyri Iceland. The first period in the residency in Reykjavik was fantastic. We were with eleven artists from nine countries (Europe, Asia, North America), each with his or her own project in her or his studio. It was wonderful to be able to work there in peace and freedom in your own studio, without the distractions you often have at home, concentrated and not dictated by agendas. While preparing meals we met in the large common kitchen cum sitting room. Sometimes some of us would go to free classical concerts on Sunday afternoons in the architecturally spectacular Harpa concert hall. Or once with a group to rock concerts on the roof of the hip Kex club. Cultural life in Reykjavik is enormously vibrant, and as a foreign artist, I was also welcome to attend openings at museums and galleries.

Reykjavik is so small-scale that museums, libraries and printers are easy to walk around. When there are not many tourists it is almost village-like in terms of its quiet, laid-back atmosphere. Despite the fact that the maximum temperature was fourteen degrees, while there was a heat wave in the Netherlands and large parts of Europe at that time, I often walked to the outdoor pool nearby in the morning for a quick swim. Because of the geothermal water, the temperature of the outdoor swimming water was super. Swimming pools are real meeting places where locals relaxed outside in the extra warm tubs (to even 39 degrees) sitting for hours chatting with each other. What struck me about contacts with the Icelanders in both cities was their enormous commitment to each other.

Wonderful to be able to work in peace and freedom like this

The earth in Iceland is always moving, and the night before I was to leave for Akureyri, I awoke to the first of a series of more violent earthquakes. Two days after, the Fagradalsfjall volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula erupted, followed by lava pouring out of the volcano for days afterward.

If you have a lot of luggage with you, it is convenient to rent a car to travel from Reykjavik to Akureyri. You drive via the only highway the Hringvegur (ring road) which is like a ring on the island. It looks like a provincial road: one lane per direction, but with a good asphalt surface.

Side roads are often not paved, so you will need a strong car for that. Before leaving, it is recommended that you consult the Veður weather app, as the weather can change at lightning speed. With ever-changing weather conditions you will drive the four hundred kilometers between the two largest cities through varied and spectacular landscapes.

Unlike the residency in Reykjavik, the one in Akureyri is only for one or two people. I was there together with the young Amsterdam director/filmmaker Ruben Peeters who made a short documentary there about me and my project "Tholen versus Iceland. Among other things, the documentary will be shown during presentations of the book about this project, which will be published in 2024.

Akureyri is even smaller than Reykjavik with a close-knit group of artists. Here, too, we were invited to openings, including at the artists' society Cactus. From Akureyri, together with Ruben Peeters, I made exciting hikes undertaken in nature. Several days we took trips in a rented car to impressive solidified lava fields, bubbling sulfur pools and crashing waterfalls where I also did macro-photographic research.

At both residencies, I worked on the project "Tholen versus Iceland. The core of the research is the fragility and beauty of nature on two geologically so different islands. In this project, I research and compare what the specific flora and sea elements of my native island of Tholen are with the specific flora and sea elements of the island of Iceland.

At the heart of the research is the fragility and beauty of nature on two islands so geologically different

Iceland, 20 million years old, formed from volcanic eruptions, lies in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean close to the Arctic Ocean. Tholen is much younger, formed in the 12th century by marshy land reclamation from salt marshes, lies in the Oosterschelde a bit inland, further from the open sea. What are the differences and what are the similarities between these two islands in terms of geological composition of the soil and geographical location on the globe so different in terms of the original vegetation on land and in the sea, and the marine animals close to the coast?

I studied micro and landscape structures, specific to Iceland with the exceptional colors of the pristine volcanic nature and vegetation in the Northern Sub-Pole region, and the colors and transparency of the icy nature. The research involved me taking macro photos in Reykjavik along the waterfront of the Atlantic Ocean, and at "The Icelandic Flora" department at the Botanical Garden with two different devices. In addition, at the University Library of Reykjavik, I researched the Latin and Icelandic names of the land and sea plants and marine animals I had taken macro photos of.

From Akureyri I researched more in the interior of Iceland, in the mountains and near the sulfur and lava fields, as well as again in the Botanical Garden. All the research I have captured photographically with a focus on the visual quality of the image. I am not concerned with a dry scientific record, but with capturing the sense of beauty and vulnerability in images. Sometimes even resulting in (almost) blurry images. Nevertheless, I manually write the date of capture, the name of the location, the coordinates and the Latin and Icelandic or Dutch name of the plant or sea creature below the photograph, as a kind of scientific registration.

Due to practical travel considerations, in Reykjavik I had a good number of photos digitally printed on A4 size on paper I brought with me. Some of the photos I presented during the exhibitions sec, and on some I continued working with mixed media: with crayons, pastels, colored pencils, inks, watercolors, and sometimes I embroidered on the paper, or perforated with different thicknesses of needles. Sometimes a picture combined with other worked sheets of paper forms a diptych or triptych.

I am not concerned with a dry scientific record, but with capturing the sense of beauty and vulnerability in images

During the SIM Open Studios in Reykjavik, despite the vacation period, interested visitors came to look at our work and animated conversations followed. At the Deiglan Gallery in Akureyri at the end of my residency, I held a solo exhibition and a artist talk. Both events were well attended and there were fine comments from Icelandic and other international visitors.

On my native island of Tholen in 2021 and 2023, I did research on the specific flora and marine elements. Prints will be made of those shots as well and I will continue to work on those. Next year the project will eventually result in a book with emphasis on the photographic material on both islands and concise texts in Dutch, English and Icelandic.

Looking with open-mindedness and wonder at the world around me, especially at nature in all its facets, has its origins in my childhood on a farm in Zeeland. I have retained the same childlike wonder and admiration for nature throughout my life up until now. It is not because nature is now in the spotlight because of climate change that I am involved in this. It is a logical consequence and continuation of my way of looking at nature as a child around our farm, since my college days in my small city garden, and on my travels worldwide.