For two decades, artist Zaria Forman has committed herself to creating art that speaks to Earth’s changing climate. Specifically, her enormous pastel drawings of polar ice and the Arctic landscape highlight the urgency needed to counteract the warming of the planet. In her new exhibition Fellsfjara, Iceland, Forman looks closely at the polar ice that has accumulated on Iceland’s black sand beaches.
Her large-scale drawings show this ice under a magnifying lens and render it in magnificent detail. The work is reminiscent of classic still-life art in that it honors an inanimate object and highlights its inherent characteristics. At the same time, it also addresses its fragility.
During her trips to Fellsfjara, which is located on Iceland’s southeastern coast, Forman stumbled upon ancient, compressed ice. Enthralled by its complexity and clarity, she set about immortalizing all of the cracks, bubbles, and distortions that tell the story of its history.
“In close-up views of glacial ice set against the velvety richness of churning Arctic waters and black sand, these works add to Forman’s career-long contemplation of light and ice; of humanity and nature; of time spent and time left,” shares gallery Winston Wächter, which is hosting the show in its New York location. “Forman offers a nuanced clarion call, encouraging viewers to notice, appreciate, and protect the earth’s most vulnerable landscapes.”
The work, which was first previewed in Reykjavik last year, is a stunning evolution of Forman’s art and a continued demonstration of how artists can work to effect change. Fellsfjara, Iceland, is currently on view in New York City at Winston Wächter Fine Art until May 4, 2024.
Fellsfjara, Iceland is a new set of large-scale pastel drawings by artist Zaria Forman.
Based on the polar ice she found washed up on Iceland’s black sand beaches, the drawings show the ice’s fragility.
This is the latest evolution of Forman’s art, which has, for two decades, focused on climate change and the Arctic landscape.
