Jenni Ward // September 2018

Jenni Ward is a ceramic sculptor and installation artist based in Santa Cruz California. Jenni joined us here at the Fish Factory in September 2018.

She is inspired by biological forms with a particular focus on structures and patterns in nature.

Her time spent connecting to her environment and exploring way above and way below sea level is an integral part of her work. She takes inspiration from those places to create abstract interpretations of forms and structures through thoughtfully crafted ceramic sculptures. Her installations play with the connectivity of the form to its environment and in turn the connectivity of herself to the natural world.

Jenni Ward // September 2018

// More of Jenni Wards’s Work //

Her works address the subject of magic, asking what problems people attempt to solve with it, and why some resort to magic as their tool to do so. 

//More of Klara Brydewall’s Work//

https://www.instagram.com/klarabrydewall/?hl=en

Thank you, Klara!

Beata Grahn // August 2018

Beata Grahn is an artist from Göteborg, Sweden. She is currently based in Stockholm, where she recently got her BFA at Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design, specializing in art jewelry and corpus.

Her practice revolves around apotropaic objects and actions (a term which basically refers to tools to ward off evil), taking off in the notion that present-day use of apotropaic magic is not so much acting upon actual superstitious conviction as it is an act of showing humility/awareness of vulnerability.

During her residency here she’s been focusing on pinpointing common denominators between jewelry, infrastructure and human behavior, all the while integrating photography as a potential final stage of her processes. Taking advantage of the Icelandic surroundings and weather conditions, she works with automated flash photography as a means of exploring the pedestrian reflector as an everyday item on the verge of being jewelry.

Beata Grahn // August 2018

// More of Beata Grahn’s Work //

https://www.instagram.com/beat.a.grahn/

Check out the interview here:

Thank you, Beata!

Shawn Camp// August 2018

Shawn Camp is an artist and musician based in Austin, TX USA. During his August 2018 residency, he created paintings, videos, and sound pieces in preparation for two solo exhibitions in the fall.

These new works investigate dualities and exploit the effects of context on our perception. They convey a sense of atmosphere and explore the mystery of light and matter – an acknowledgment of our constantly changing state of existence where nothing is fixed. His experiences throughout Iceland had a deep and surprising impact on his work.

Shawn Camp// August 2018

// More of Shawn Camp’s Work //

http://www.shawncamp.net/

Check out the interview here:

Thank you, Shawn!

Chloe Purcell // August 2018

Chloe Purcell is a puppetry specialist, animator, performance maker, producer & painter based in London, England.

Chloe joined the Fish Factory for the month of August 2018 to explore, representations of the divine feminine with the hope of connecting to the Elven realms through nature.

During her residency, Chloe took the opportunity to explore ceramic sculpture for the first time, creating dolls and sculptural representations of the divine feminine from folklore.

Chloe Purcell // August 2018

// More of Chloe Purcell’s Work //

https://www.instagram.com/purcell.chloe44/

Check out the interview here:

Thank you, Chloe!

Geffen Refaeli// August 2018

Geffen Refaeli is a visual artist, illustrator and writer. She graduated Bdes from the Bezalel Academy of art and design Jerusalem 2010 and is based in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Geffen joined us here at the Fish Factory for a month of August 2018 to work on her new project Amicis Vivit- a speculative research into the life of newly discovered, imagined hybrid creatures. She worked mainly with photography, collage and drawing. In this project Refaeli was inspired by the local environment and natural world. Her work is centred around questions of phenomenology and the definition of life.

Geffen Refaeli// August 2018

// More of Geffen Refaeli’s Work //

http://geffenrefaeliart.com/

http://instagram.com/dailydoodlegram

Thank you, Geffen!

Kirsty Palmer // July, August 2018

Kirsty Palmer is a visual artist from Glasgow, Scotland who joined us at the Fish Factory for the months of July and August 2018. She graduated from the MFA programme at The Glasgow School of Art in 2014 and with BA (Hons) in 2010. Her two-month residency at the Fish Factory formed part of an extended working period in Iceland, during which she has also been based in Reykjavik and Ísafjörður. 

Working in both two and three dimensions, Kirsty’s practice is driven by formal concerns; a language of materiality and the making process itself, whilst it also addresses notions of landscape, abstraction, archaeology, mapping and the photographic notion of ‘exposure’. Kirsty is interested in the function of ‘slow’ objects and images as well as the physicality of islands. Combining multiple elements, her work often presents as installation which is usually site-specific or temporary.

Kirsty Palmer // July, August 2018

Whilst at the Fish Factory, Kirsty worked with drawing, printmaking, ceramics and photography to develop a new body of work which is informed by pre-existing concerns as well as by surrounding geography, geology and changing material states. It seeks to begin to address phenomenological aspects of both materiality and of her own practice through employing various scales and forms. Throughout the residency, Kirsty sought to expand her working methods, experimenting with ceramics (specifically porcelain) and exploring the function of photography as a working material throughout her practice.

Kirsty Palmer // July, August 2018

// More of Kirsty Palmer’s Work //

https://www.instagram.com/kirsty_palmer_/

Thank you, Kirsty!

Rebecca Pempek //  July 2018

 Rebecca is a visual artist from the U.S who joined us here at the Fish Factory in July 2018. She works two-dimensionally; challenging the distinction between painting and drawing with mixed media works on paper.

While at the Fish Factory, she worked on a number of drawings/paintings and a wall mural in our factory.

She believes that today’s turbulent political climate yields tremendous cultural anxiety, with the new default state of the human condition ‘residing in turbulence’ or ‘reconciling turbulence.’ Rebecca’s cites her work as a reconciliation of this turbulence. Within this is an exploration of the movement between fantasy and reality.

She offers the words of author and illustrator, Maurice Sendak as significant to this body of work;

“there is no such thing as fantasy unrelated to reality”

Rebecca Pempek //  July 2018

// More of Rebecca Pempek’s Work //

http://rebeccapempek.weebly.com/

https://www.instagram.com/rebeccapempekart/

Check out the interview here:

Thank you, Rebecca!

Mary Buckland // June, July, August 2018

Mary Buckland is an artist who works in multiple mediums, including embroidery, bookmaking, and various printmaking techniques.

She is from Yellowknife, Canada, and spent June, July, and August 2018 at the Fish Factory residency following her graduation from university.

During her time at the Fish Factory, her focus and inspiration were personal and communal memory intersecting with the landscape; and the erasure of memory through time and the elements.

Mary Buckland // June, July, August 2018

// More of Mary Bucklands’s Work //

https://www.mary-buckland.com/

https://www.instagram.com/mary.makes.things/

Check out the interview here:

Thank you, Mary!

Sara Walters // July 2018

Sara Walters is a writer and Ph.D. student from East Tennessee who joined us at the Fish Factory in July of 2018. While in residence, Sara completed a draft of her yet-untitled young adult novel and worked on her doctoral research in the portrayal of trauma in the young adult genre.

Home in Tennessee, Sara is a full-time student and activist, working with liberal and democratic groups around the state, and advocating for the political arm of Planned Parenthood to promote access to affordable health care for women, LGBTQ+ people, and other marginalized groups. This activism feeds into her research on trauma, and how the language used to portray these stories impacts young women.

Sara Walters // July 2018

//More of Sara Walters’s Work//

https://saradoesthings.com/

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/saradoesthings/

Check out the interview here:

Thank you, Sara!

Franck Sarfati// July 2018

Franck Sarfati is a sculptor from Brussels, Belgium who joined us here at the Fish Factory in July 2018.

He came here to focus on his Limoges porcelain sculpture projects for his upcoming solo show in Brussels and to experimenting new shapes and ideas.

While he is in the residency, except working in the shared studio, he also explored and inspired a lot of Iceland´s landscape and geology.

Franck Sarfati// July 2018

//More of Franck Sarfati’s Work//

www.francksarfati.be

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/francksarfati/

Check out the interview here:

Thank you, Franck!

Sally Richardson //  July 2018

Sally Richardson is a multiplatform artist, writer, director, performance maker and producer.

She is based in Perth, Western Australia and she joined us here at the Fish Factory for a month of July 2018 to focus on researching her solo creative practice and process and working in response to place and environment.

During her residency, she developed a number of projects with a focus on photographic, film and writing explorations.

Her thematic and philosophical focus being; ‘the melancholy blue of distance’ & exploring this in the context of Wabi-Sabi as a creative/artistic aesthetic.

Sally Richardson //  July 2018

//More of Sally Richardson’s Work//

Check out the interview here:

Thank you, Sally!

Wild Anima is a musician from France who lives in Berlin and who joined us here at the Fish Factory in June 2018. She makes vocal ambient& downtempo electronic music.

While she was in the residency, she worked on her album project which she had already started to develop. The heart is the main core of her album project. When she searched about “healing process of broken hearts” she found out there is a connection between healing heart and electromagnetic waves. So, she uses her music as a medicine for all the broken hearts.

Check out the interview here:

Wild Anima (Alex Alexopoulos) // June 2018.

//More of Wild Anima’s Work//

www.soundcloud.com/kurosounds-wildanima

https://www.facebook.com/wildanimamusic/

Thank you, Wild Anima!

Beatrice is an artist from Melbourne, Australia who joined us here at the Fish Factory in May and June 2018. She is an interdisciplinary artist but mostly focuses on sculptures.

During her stay, Beatrice created numerous wax castings from reindeer antlers which she combined into figurative sculptures. The wax sculptures Beatrice will transfer into bronze castings once she is back in Australia. Beatrice was inspired by Norse mythology, f.x. Valkyries, as well as different shapes in nature, which she modifies and plays with. Beatrice also made printed artworks from her embroidered landscape images of the magical mountains.

Beatrice Magalotti // May – June 2018.

Check out the interview here:

//More of Beatrice’s Work//

www.beatricemagalotti.com

Thank you, Beatrice!

Audra Hubbell is a graphic designer from the United States, who joined us here at the Fish Factory in June 2018. Mostly she finds inspiration in places&memory and their relation between each other in her creations. While she was in residency, she collected objects and turn those found objects into artworks. In her artworks she uses different kind of materials like found objects, pictures and she mixes all together, sometimes she paints on them with colors, or draws on them with chalk to create her visuals.

Audra Hubbell // June 2018.

Check out the interview here:

//More of Audra’s Work//

http://cargocollective.com/audrahubbell

https://www.instagram.com/audhubs/

Thank you, Audra!

Amy Caterina is a photographer from Southern California, who joined us here at the Fish Factory for her second visit in June 2018. Amy came to the Fish Factory for a first time in January 2017 and as a photographer, she wanted to experience the exact opposite light situation. 

Amy Caterina // June 2018.

//More of Amy’s Work//

http://www.amycaterina.com/

Check out the interview here:

Thank you, Amy!

Monica Hunken // May 2018.

Monica is a performer, activist, and creative direct action teacher among many other things. She is based in New York, United States and joined us here at the Fish Factory for a month of May 2018 to focus on developing her new solo play.

Monica took over our concert hall for the month where she wrote and rehearsed her new play in which she weaves together events in her personal family history – particularly from her mother’s point of view – turns and twists of US politics since the 80’s and imaginary alternative life trajectories. The fantastical story includes espionage, dark humor, friendship and second chances and is filled with music from punk to Elvis and hip-hop, Monica wrote especially for the play.

At the end of her residency, Monica organized an open dress rehearsal and we at the Creative Centre got to enjoy her touching and funny story. Also, another artist in residence, Clint, was making his debut in the play as he collaborated with Monica as a technician, musician, and videomaker.

Photos from the dress rehearsal of Monica’s play performed in our concert hall. // All photographs by Jana Charl, May 2018.

//More of Monica’s Work//

http://monica-hunken.squarespace.com

Thank you, Monica!

Clint Sleeper // May 2018.

Clint Sleeper is an artist from Tallahassee, Florida, who joined us here at the Fish Factory for the month of May 2018. His work includes mostly a variety of different digital mediums and music, and the themes of his art revolve around the humor and tragedy of our political and economic systems.

While in the residency, Clint was working on a couple of his video works. One of them is a humorous series of videos where he performs a role of an economics educator teaching capitalism to nature by reading Adam Smith’s Wealth of the Nations to parts of nature, thus making an absurd joke that it would be more likely that “inanimate objects might learn about our economic systems, than our economists might learn about the environment.” The other work he was developing in the residency is a series of critical video essays titled “255, 255, 255” which investigates the language of digital technology and the ways we have learned to talk about the climate change, natural phenomena, digital environments, and moving image. Clint will continue to work on this project in Iceland for another month in another residency.

https://vimeo.com/129035675

A one video and stills from the series “Teaching Capitalism to Nature” and stills from the new work “255, 255, 255” created while in the residency // Photos by Clint Sleeper May 2018.

//More of Clint’s Work//

www.clintsleeper.com

https://www.instagram.com/clintsleeper/

Check out the interview here:

Thank you, Clint!

Miriam Donohue // May 2018.

Miriam is a singer-songwriter from Dublin, Ireland, who joined us here at the Fish Factory Creative Centre for May of 2018. Miriam made her first album two years ago and decided that it was about the time to compose a second one.

She came to Iceland open-minded, ready to get inspired by the country and the dramatic landscapes. This led to her collaborating with another artist-in-residence and she wrote a song about Iceland’s forgotten fisherwomen to accompany Jana Charl’s installation about the same subject. Miriam was happy about her productive time in here, and she made six songs just within two weeks she spent at the Creative Centre. We at the Factory got to enjoy her talent and beautiful voice on a mini-concert she played while in the residency.

The video documentation of the Forgotten Fisherwomen, the song by Miriam Donohue, installation and video by Jana Charl. // May 2018.

//More of Miriam’s Work//

www.miriamdonohue.com

www.instagram.com/miriam_donohue_music

Check out the interview here:

Thank you, Miriam!

Jana Charl // May 2018.

Jana Charl is an artist from Los Angeles, California, who joined us here at the Fish Factory for the month of May 2018. She has just recently moved from Los Angeles to a large ranch in central Oregon and was happy to come to a residency to another rural place and have the time to focus on the creative work without the big city stress and distractions.

Jana uses a variety of different mediums and materials. She makes paintings, installations, and sculptures out of recycled salvaged materials and objects. She has developed a distinct style of representing the female form and is playing joyfully with it. She considers herself as a feminist artist, but in a gentle and cheerful way.

While in the residency Jana made a large installation piece to the attic of the Creative Centre inspired by the stories of forgotten fisherwomen of the late 19th century. She was delighted to find our vast collection of recycled materials and gave them a new life as a part of her installation. Another residency artist, Miriam, in turn, got inspired by Jana’s research on the fisherwomen and composed a song about them to accompany the installation. Both artists were particularly pleased with this fruitful collaboration.

Stories of Forgotten Fisherwomen – installation by Jana Charl, music by Miriam Donohue // May 2018.

Stories of Forgotten Fisherwomen – installation and photographs by Jana Charl // May 2018.

//More of Jana’s Work//

www.janacharl.com

www.instagram.com/janacharl.art

Check out the interview here:

Thank you, Jana!

Sybil Paulson // May 2018.

Sybil Paulson is a nomad artist, who joined us here at the Fish Factory for the month of May 2018. She was born in Canada and has been more or less on the road ever since she turned 14. As her lifestyle also Sybil’s art is an organically swirling process and she moves smoothly from a medium to another. She is mostly based in drawing but also takes photographs, makes paintings and performative acts for a camera.

Coming to a residency in Iceland was an important cyclical finish for Sybil, as she was living in Iceland four years earlier trying to study art, but back then decided to do something else. Now that phase of doing something else has come to a sort of an end, and she will start at an art school later this year.

This is how Sybil writes about her art and process:

Sybil Paulson has learned many things. Some of them are about the wilderness, others about women and men. Very little about birds despite the time spent watching them.

She is Canadian and American. Sybil attended competitive ice hockey schools throughout her formative years and once shed a tear while flying over the state of Louisiana (following the last election) which unfolded on a motel television in Cuba, reported by an anchor wearing an eye patch and a fine suit. She has a strong love for the endless states of Mississippi and Lousiana.

A couple of artworks Sybil created while in the residency. // Photographs by Sybil Paulson May 2018.

//More of Sybil’s Work//

http://sybilpaulson.portfoliobox.net/

Check out the interview here:

Thank you, Sybil!

Melissa McGrath // April 2018.

Melissa McGrath is a visual artist and educator from Kansas City, Missouri, The United States. She joined us here at the Fish Factory for the month of April 2018 to focus on her drawing practice.

Melissa makes drawings by burning holes to the paper with a smoldering incense stick. The method of drawing this way is an irreversible process and the drawings are usually dealing with the transformation and the ways people move through traumas. The drawings and the meditative process of making them is her way to depict traumas, both the ones we have as individuals and those of different communities. The process of drawing with a smoldering incense stick is very laborious practice and for Melissa, also this tedious labor is an important part of the artwork itself.

While in the residency, Melissa started working on the biggest drawing she has made so far. The paper being bigger than the artist has special meaning to her and is fitting as the things she is going through at the moment are also bigger than her. Melissa spent countless hours working on the drawing and was particularly interested in feeling the effects of the physical labor in her body as she spent the working hours making the drawing on various positions from being on tiptoes to lying on the ground.

The piece Melissa created while in the residency // April 2018.

//More of Melissa’s Work//

www.melissamcgrath.work

https://www.instagram.com/starwitness_

Check out the interview here:

Thank you, Melissa!

Jerry Jacuzio // April 2018.

Jerry Jacuzio is an artist and musician from the United States, who joined us here at the Fish Factory for the month of April 2018. Jerry came to the residency to continue to make his magical felted hats and fish masks.

Jerry considers himself as a maker of things and art as a means of magic. For him, art doesn’t come from the logical side of the brain, but from somewhere more mystical and unexplainable side of his being. Initially, Jerry started making the felted hats with twigs and bones as a help for people who had lost their hair, and their magic, during the cancer treatments. This was how he had felt too.

Masks, instead, come from a different place. Jerry got tired of the changes happening in the music venues and saw that the only possible place to continue playing was on the streets. But, he needed to have a mask on to blur the identity of the musician, as a shield, so he started making the mystical masks with angelic writing and other symbols. Jerry is excited planning on a future performance to play music in a fish market in Asia wearing the fish masks he created during the residency.

Some work Jerry completed while in the residency in April 2018.

//More of Jerry’s Work//

Check out the interview here:

Thank you, Jerry!

Silvija Juozelskyte // April 2018.

Silvija Juozelskyte is a textile designer and art therapist from Lithuania, who joined us here at the Fish Factory for the month of April 2018. For a Lithuanian, Iceland is an especially important country because it was the first country to recognize the independence of Lithuania back in 1991. And as an homage to that, Lithuanians have an annual festival in Vilnius called Takk Island / Thank you Iceland. The festival is also the reason why Silvija came to the residency to work on a new body of work that she is going to exhibit at the festival.

In general, Silvija’s work finds its inspiration from nature and she uses only natural materials such as linen and wool. In the residency, she was inspired by the Icelandic nature, especially the mountains and the sea. Being at the Fish Factory she was pondering on the history of the place and also, the similarities between the two countries and their fishing trades. Eventually, this led to her making artworks weaving the landscape of Stöðvafjörður on the found fishing net. During her time in the residency, Silvija was also doing a lot of hiking in the mountains and dedicating time to knit a pullover with traditional patterns using Icelandic wool. She was interested in photographing the ropes the fishermen left at the harbor – she saw them as interesting coincidental drawings.

Some artworks Silvija made while in the residency // Silvija Juozelskyte 2018.

//More of Silvija’s Work//

http://www.silvijart.com

Thank you, Silvija!