Nicholas Miller is a composer, improviser, guitarist, and multidisciplinary artist. Their work is informed by jazz, magic, ecology, and performance art. They have performed internationally and collaborated with a huge variety of musicians and other artists. They hold degrees in jazz, guitar performance, and composition from the University of Denver, Utah State, and Oxford.

Harry O’Connor is an Irish composer and violinist. Harry’s own compositional practice is currently based around soundtracking nature and landscape, focusing within the idiom of jazz-inflected chamber and orchestral music. As a violinist, Harry has been involved with various groups and performers across many styles, ranging from historical performance practice to contemporary and avant-garde music. Harry graduated from the MTU Cork School of Music in 2021 with a BMus (Hons) degree. In September 2024, he graduated with an MSt in Music (Composition) from the University of Oxford.

When they arrived at the Fish Factory, both Harry and Nicholas were intrigued by the array of different instruments lying around the building, particularly the many electronic organs and keyboard synthesisers. Between them, a concept developed of using as many of these organs and keyboards as possible for the sake of a recording project, based around free improvisation. Over a period of roughly seven days, Harry and Nicholas produced a varied series of recorded improvisations utilising as many instrumental combinations as possible.

These recordings were catalogued, edited together, and used as the source material for a 40-minute vinyl LP album entitled GILDIA ORGANORUM HYPERBOREA. The LP, of which ten copies were cut at the Fish Factory, brings together just some of the improvised material across two 20-minute tracks. They also produced a series of ten cassettes under the same name, across which the near-total 3.5 hours worth of recordings are collected, with each cassette being a completely unique combination of recordings.

Having access to such a bizarre assortment of instruments was an exciting opportunity for combining play and technology. Along with the improvised musical material, the LP also features overlaid software instruments, recorded water sounds from the harbour in Stöðvarfjörður, as well as sound from the banging door of Iceland’s most northerly lighthouse in Hraufnhafnartangi.

Harry and Nicholas completed their residency period with a live performance showcasing the different instruments they used at the Fish Factory. Stöðvarfjörður provided the perfect setting for their project, and having access to such fantastic technology and recording facilities was a huge bonus. Working here felt like play, not work.

Nicholas Website: https://nicholasjcmiller.com/

Bandcamp: https://gildiaorganorumhyperborea.bandcamp.com/album/gildia-organorum-hyperborea

Adrienne Roma Sacks is a multidisciplinary artist living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

Her visual art background is in experimental approaches to painting materials. Currently, her focus is on transforming walls of post-industrial exteriors and institutional interiors into sites of beauty. She is currently pursuing a Master of Social Work from Simmons University, where she was awarded a McGrath Global & Intercultural Research Grant to pursue her work at The Fish Factory, a two-pronged project that included recorded interviews and an exterior mural on the face of the factory.

While in residence at the factory, she also made a new collection of functional culinary ceramics and journaled extensively. She is currently accepting pitches for free murals in non-profit spaces including hospitals, schools, mental health clinics, and social services buildings.

You can view more of her work and contact her at www.adrienneromasacks.com.

Frank Webster is a painter who lives in Queens, NY.

Webster received his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and his MFA from the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. He also attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Webster is the recipient of numerous awards including the NYFA Fellowship in Painting and the Pollock Krasner Award. He has been awarded residencies at the Arctic Circle Residency, NES Artist Residency, The Sharpe Walentas Space Program, Painting Space 122, The Ucross Foundation, The Corporation of Yaddo and The MacDowell Colony among others. In the Spring of 2024 he presented a solo exhibition Earthed Lightning at Isabel Sullivan Gallery in New York.

Webster’s work—ranging from small, ethereal watercolors to 10-foot wide panoramic paintings—depicts both the nuanced allure of the natural world and humanity’s interdependent relationship with it. His formal exploration of this tenuous harmony with our ecosystem is apparent in all of his work. 

During his time at the Fish Factory, Webster researched the region and documented the landscape with a primary focus on the glaciers of Iceland. Working between traditional en plein air painting and photography he collected inspiration for future works on paper and large scale studio paintings.

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/frankwebsterstudio
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frankwebsterstudio/

James DeBay is a young American artist, working in both Vermont and New York. Currently studying at Pratt Institute, he is pursuing his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting, with a minor in History of Art and Design.

ABOUT EXPERIENCE

As a young artist, my relationship with art is in a constant state of flux. The only way to achieve any form of stability in that relationship is by constantly creating work. Resultantly, I have formed an ethos in which I work intuitively and obsessively. The Fish Factory provided an ideally conducive space for that. I was able to produce work at whatever quantity and quality I sought, experiencing a freedom specific only to this village and residency. The environmental context of Stöðvarfjörður played an immeasurable role; the endless daylight of June, the looming mountains, an immersion into nature, and some level of isolation. All were deeply revitalizing. I was able to learn so much from these factors, as well as from the local culture, the incredible other artists, and the amazing Fish Factory staff.

Website: https://www.jamesdebay.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesdebayart/

Tara Lynn MacDougall is an interdisciplinary artist based in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal, QC. Her practice combines painting, sculpture, printmaking, performance, and lately has included rug hooking, and sewing. Her interest lies in a critical and humourous re-evaluation of the art historical canon, and reconsideration of distinctions between standard labour and artistic production.

My time at Fish Factory involved lots and lots of stitching and a ‘soft’ exploration into finding solidarities with how communities and artists in other places have dealt with issues of post-industrialization and economic decline.

This residency offered me time and an ideal location to focus on issues that are important to my practice, namely the relationship between manual labour and artistic practice and the hierarchical value assigned to each as well as connections between craft-identified and gendered materials, techniques and industrial labour. I was in residence with the best group of artists, perhaps the nature of the residency led to common points of interest and artistic concerns or perhaps it was the summer solstice that brought us all together, either way I hope our paths cross again, and that I have the opportunity to return again to Fish Factory. I’m grateful for and would like to acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

After a three-month sailing trip from home, Margaux Bula (*1991, CH) arrived at the port of Stodvarsfjordur.

This Biel/Bienne-based artist has a particular affinity for working in-situ, and likes to let her work evolve in space. The involvement of elements such as wind, waves and tides has infused in her during the residency at the fish factory. Deeply interested in changes and evolution over time, whether of a phenomenon, a material or a thought, Margaux applied these concepts to various works.

In “There is a tide”, the barnacle structures observed in the Icelandic foreshore were reproduced on a large scale in white clay and plaster. These sculptures emanate electronic sounds from the depths. This work was the occasion for a collaboration with Lea Gasser and her accordion, whose movements are reminiscent of the ebb and flow of the tides.

The research “Belle et menaçante” (Beautiful and Threatening) was inspired by the history of the lupine in Iceland. Introduced after the war to help regenerate Icelandic soils, the Alaskan lupine has literally invaded the landscape of the volcanic island. So much so that the island’s inhabitants are now divided between pro- and anti-lupin. ” Belle et menaçante ” is a reflection on the fear of change, on the beauty and threat of what we don’t yet know.

Finally, a video work in progress was initiated during the residency, in collaboration with Sonya Trolliet, around questions of inadaptation in the landscape.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/krutt.krutt/

Sonya Trolliet is an artist based in Lausanne, Switzerland. She works on several projects in illustration and graphic novels. She came here to feed her interests with rocks and micro-organisms.

Usually, drawing and painting, she develops, here in Stödvarfjördur, a performative video work with Margaux Bula. It’s a narrative of a lost being who is trying and trying again, and again.

During this Fish Factory residency, she was also able to work on some clumsy charcoal drawings and began writing a short screenplay for a graphic novel about two characters who are lost in the fog, who don’t know why they’re here and who mistake tourists for journalists.

Charcoal drawings, Photo by Misha Martin

“This residency was really a great moment to pursue my work and meet other artists, the landscape and the peoples really touched me. I was enchanted by the diversity of rocks and shapes, as well as the mosses. There were also many birds and flowers who I was happy to meet properly. I go back home with a certain amount of documentation and ideas. ”

Simone Ebner (stage name ‘Sijmonne’) 
- An artist working at the intersection of poetry and electronics.

Simone is a musician and music therapist from Stuttgart (Germany).
She came to the Fish Factory to work on her new program ‘COPY AND PASTE’, which shows the versatility of her artistic work. Her songs are a creative fusion of musical styles, where electronic innovation meets profound songwriting artistry.
Simone creates a unique soundscape, ranging from fragile acoustic moments to powerful electronic arrangements.
Her songs are personal stories that you can immerse yourself in and sink into: sometimes as soft as a down filled pillow, sometimes with the unexpected intensity of an impact.

During her stay at the Fish Factory, Simone composed new songs and began to produce music videos, inspired by visual impressions and atmospheres of the landscape, everyday sceneries, the peculiarities of the natural elements, all kinds of material treasures in the Factory and the enrichment of working among visual artists.

Many thanks to the Fish Factory for this great, unique and unforgettable month!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sim_one.ebner

      https://www.instagram.com/sijmonne

Facebook: https://de-de.facebook.com/simone.j.ebner

      https://de-de.facebook.com/sijmonne

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@Sijmonne-l1j

Hilary Nelson is an artist living and working between New Mexico and Iowa.

Their work combines ideas of the familiar and alien through sculpture, installation, and drawing. Material exploration acts as a foundation to confront the paradox implicit in the idea of something being “finished”. When does “usefulness” end?

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hilinelson/

Website: https://www.hilary-nelson.com/

Lea Gasser is a freelance accordionist and composer who grew up in Zurich, now living in Lausanne. Fascinated by the versatility of her instrument, she lets it take on different roles in various projects and gives it a very personal and intimate expression through her own compositions. After a Bachelor in classical music at the HKB in Bern, she followed the Master’s program in Jazz Performance & Composing at HEMU in Lausanne.

As leader of her Lea Gasser 5tet, she has been playing her own jazz compositions since 2020. Music that is characterised by catchy and lyrical melodies, cheeky bass lines and dreamy character (album “L’Heure Bleue”). Lea also co-founded the duo OXEON with singer Sylvie Klijn. The duo combines their own compositions with arrangements of classical works, refined by effect pedals (album “Somewhere Far”). The musician is part of other bands and interdisciplinary projects.

Many thanks to the Fish Factory team and to our great group! I hope to come back one day. Maybe in winter ;-)”

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/leagasser

Nora Fuchs is a sculptor from Germany and lives in Berlin and Dortmund.
She has been a professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Dortmund since 2003. There she teaches in the bachelor’s program in three-dimensional design and in the master’s program in scenography and is active in a network for the improvement of artistic teaching at universities. She has taken part in many exhibitions and has worked and curated at the Alte Schule Baruth art and culture association for 20 years.

“For me, a month in Stöðvarfjörður means having the freedom to try things out, discard them and develop new approaches to artistic work. Most of the time I was obsessed with observing the rapidly changing weather phenomena with my camera. At the moment I am working on the theme of tipping points. The moment of fragile equilibrium leaves open what is about to happen. But what if the fragile state tips in one direction? Is it possible to reverse this process?

10 found Fragments. An experiment with shards found on a staircase in Stöðvarfjörður: Does anyone know anything about the history of the vase? I posted it on Instagram, but I didn´t get a response.

I reconstruct the Vase and returned it to the place where it was found.I got information about the story of the house: it is the accommodation for workers in the fishing industry or other businesses. Most of them only live there on a daily basis. The house could have been the old postoffice.

After some days: The vase was probably knocked over by the wind. After the first time, I simply put it upright again. The second time it fell down the stairs. It is now supported by a wooden base that has been temporarily glued together with hot glue. This time the vase contained flowers to be noticed.

After the third fall, there are now 14 shards instead of 10. I decide not to damage the vase any more and put the pieces back where I found them, one by one, just as I found them.”

Website: www.norafuchs.de

Eva Spierenburg (the Netherlands) is a visual artist working with installation, painting, drawing, sculpture, video, performance, and everything in between. Her practice describes the correlation between our inner processes, and our physical body interacting with the world. With her work she aims to find a form for the human experiences that escape grip and language.

“During my residency at Fish Factory, I spent the days walking, staring at the clouds swirling around the mountains, filming and drawing. I was planning to focus my drawings on the analogy between body and landscape. The Icelandic landscape turned out to be so overwhelmingly present, that the notion of the dissolving body emerged from my drawings. I also imagined the earth itself as a body; breathing, leaking, digesting, moving in a different time than ours. Ridges turned into spines. Thick soft moss covering solid stones, like flesh covers our bones.

I found myself having much more patience and focus on detail than in my studio at home, ecountering possible new subjects and ways of working. I really had an amazing time in Stöðvarfjörður, gaining lots of energy, inspiration and new things to explore from the residency. Thank you!”

The swiss artist Silvia Buol studied Visual Arts at Basel School of Art and Design (MA 1980), Movement Theatre in Rome and Zürich (Diploma 1984), and Contemporary Dance with Richard Haisma in San Francisco. She works as a visual and performing artist and is also a freelance in cultural projects and a founding member of ”die nomadisierenden veranstalter”. Her approach in drawing, painting, photography and performance is strongly physical and references movement in time and space.

In Stödvarfjördur she engaged with the sea, the shore and the tides. In landart-like manifestations she increased the visibility of the movements of the sea, she focused on stones, seaweed and found materials. She used installations, drawings, paintings, photography and a performance on the old pier to record her experiences of the specific landscape and its inherent movements.

In her visual art she integrates her movement skills that originate in her performance work. Exhibitions, Art Projects and Performances Silvia Buol has participated in exhibitions and art projects in galleries and art spaces, at festivals and in public spaces at various locations, in Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Germany, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Scotland, and Iceland. Her last large project „Hidden Traces“ took place on the Berninapass in the Swiss Alps during the summer of 2023 with 3 installations and 2 performances in the landscape around Lago Bianco, in the frame of Vias d’Art, „Rethink Destinations“ by Cultura Pontresina.

Toni Cinderella is a multidisciplinary artist who lives and works on the east coast of the United States. She creates portals and gates to playful dreamscapes that describe specific memories and explore femininity and the purities in life through transient moments in nature.

At the Fish Factory, she created a series of drawings and video and sound compilations based on her experience of living in Iceland in May. The mountains, the moon, the birds, the blooming flowers and the rivers and ocean were the most influential elements for her work. Using her voice and theremin were some of her main experimentations during the residency where she found these instruments and the Icelandic landscape all held similarities in terms of spatiality, delicacy and the power of being present.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toniprincessa/

Website: https://antoinettecinderella.com/

Aoife Claffey is an installation artist based in Cork, Ireland.

She explores human sensory perception in immersive environments, influenced by her interest in human behaviorand the physical exploration of site-specific provisional spaces. She creates installations by combining mediums such as interactive projections, reflective found objects, lighting, printmaking, and surround sound.

The experience was enriched by the connections I made with other artists and musicians at the residency. My time in Iceland was unforgettable, from learning new skills to dedicated studio time and forming special friendships. Thank you, Fish Factory-Creative Centre, for this experience and Cork City Council for funding this opportunity.

Website: https://www.aoifeclaffeyart.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aoifeclaffeyart/

Ben Provest is a singer-songwriter with a passion for creating and performing heartfelt music. He has over 10 years of experience working in the music industry, and has performed his original music in the UK, Europe, Australia & the USA. He studied jazz guitar at The Victorian College of The Arts (2013-2015) & Contemporary Writing & Production at Berklee College of Music (2016-2019). While living in Los Angeles he worked for acclaimed film composer Christopher Young. Finally, he is a passionate educator and has been a guitar instructor on the platform Fender Play (2019-present), where he developed a lead guitar course. Ben is now focusing solely on his original music project and will be releasing a song each month for the rest of 2024.

My time at the Fish Factory was surreal, awe inspiring, and enriching in so many ways. From the breath taking views of the mountains that would morph with the changing light each day, to the heavy snow fall which would be followed by a bright sun, so warm that we could swim & lay on the rocks. It was a constantly evolving & exciting environment to be in. The friendship that formed between the group was extremely special, and it made the trip a pure joy to be on. We would cook dinners most nights together, each member of the house contributing a dish that they were excited to share. By the end of the residency both houses were coming together most nights for a family dinner as the bond became so strong with everyone getting along so well. This camaraderie was also present in the studio and helped shape the work that Michael & I created.

As a songwriter, there were times that I needed to disappear from the group and look inwards, and there was always a room or a walk that I could go on that would give me that solace. The facility itself was beautiful. The recording studio had views of the fjord, which gave it a feeling of light & warmth on even the coldest days. I was able to write, record & create music videos for my solo project, as well as create in a new collaborative way with my friend Michael. The music we created captured the surrounds & group dynamic beautifully. My time in Stöðvarfjörður was truly special, and I will cherish the memories from this residency forever.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ben_provest/

Linktree: linktr.ee/ben_provest

Lia DeFranco is a figurative painter based in New York City. During her residency at the Fish Factory, she explored the intriguing relationship between humans and insects, creating artworks that depict them in harmony. Her paintings often juxtapose the delicate intricacies of insects with human figures, highlighting a peaceful coexistence.

Additionally, Lia created a series of paintings that transformed mundane encounters with insects into surreal scenes featuring monstrous insectoid creatures. She finds this subject compelling as it blends the grotesque with the nostalgic, reminiscent of the pulpy illustrations on children’s horror book covers she grew up reading. This series aims to explore the dynamism and vulnerability associated with fear, capturing it as both a silly thrill and a hot shock.

Inspired by the serene landscape and simple way of living at the Fish Factory, Lia also produced paintings reflecting small, everyday moments. Her work from this period beautifully merges the ordinary with the extraordinary, offering viewers a glimpse into the quiet yet profound experiences of her time at the residency.

Website: https://liadefranco.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liajdefranco/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelingvarson/

Arista is an artist from Virginia, currently based in Baltimore, Maryland.

A recent graduate from the Maryland Institute College of Art with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Ceramics, Arista’s paintings and ceramics are centered in a love of observing nature and personal relationships. Forever fond of working plein-air, Arista works quickly to capture a moment and learn through repetition. Arista’s process is full of play; it includes painting, printing, pinching, hand-building, wheel-throwing, coiling, adding, subtracting, stamping, and sketching. 

Arista’s paintings are based on imagery found in the fjord. Each week she worked on a series of small paintings which informed larger paintings. During the first icy weeks of April she loved observing all the grass sticking out of snow: thin golden lines peeking through white, and lovely blue shadows following behind. These quiet moments contrast the stark yellow against purple found in the black sand beaches as the snow melted later in the residency. Arista experimented with various papers found around the factory, including rice paper, resume paper, glossy photo paper, and cardstock, and completed five larger paintings during her time here.

Arista spent her time at the fish factory between the painting and ceramics studios. Initially she made stamps with patterns and florals to decorate mugs, xuns, and bells. However, her ceramics quickly became vessels for the sweet memories and friendships made during the residency. Bells were illustrated with figures from the cohorts group cold-swim, ocarinas painted with the beloved studio pups, and pots adorned with colorful glaze paintings of family dinners and group potlucks.

As part of her residency, Arista taught a three-part workshop on making ceramic instruments to other residents and senior community members from the village. The workshop concluded with a celebratory performance outside the factory. Arista also helped run various firing and glaze tests for the ceramic studio.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arista.wilson/