PLOUTON
2015-2019 Photographic series from the research in the borderland between Norway and Russia in the European High North
Installation view: I.R.-N.E. [Sanctum] & Inverse Operations, Contour 556, Biennial of Public Art, Canberra (AU), 2018
A series of photographs and composite images drawing on a research project in the European High North: a desolate wilderness along the Norway-Russia border riddled with the traces modernist utopias and the remains of the last century’s main conflicts. There the impact of climate change are felt with searing clarity, yet at the same time this conflicted landscape nurtures titanic opportunities that push the Arctic frontier northwards with unstoppable colonizing force.
Imbued with the soft hues and dark tones of the waning light at the onset of the polar winter, the works from the series focus on sites exploited by extractive industries and portray an altered man-made landscape reminiscent of ancient piramids and mastaba’s.
Plouton refers to the ancient Greek titan, ruler of the underground and divinity of wealth.
Pit, 2018, pigment print on archival paper, 180 cm x 110 cm or wallpaper on cyclo, dimensions variable
Antechambre I, 2017, ed. of 5, pigment print on cotton rag, 118 cm x 75 cm
I.R. - N.E. [Sanctum}, 2018, ed. of 10, pigment print on cotton rag, 45 cm x 30 cm
Inverse Operations, 2018, (ed. of 5 ), pigment print on cotton rag, 150 cm x 100 cm
Last Light, 2015, ed. of 5, pigment print on cotton rag, 77 cm x 52 cm