Polar Art

• About the artwork and artist

  Artist: Dr. Les White

  Title: Arctic Sky Nastapoka Islands Hudson Bay Nunavik

  Painted in acrylic and gel on four canvas panels, this work depicts the ever-changing Arctic sky above the Nastapoka Islands along the east coast of Hudson Bay. The mythical qualities of the enchanting landscape and awe-inspiring skies have long commanded my attention. I hope that through my paintings, others will similarly be drawn to contemplate this formidable yet fragile environment.

  I was instantly captivated by the Arctic during my first field studies in 1974; this sense of awe has not diminished in the 40 years since. Over the decades, I have been fortunate enough to have worked in and with many communities across the Northwest Territories and Nunavut to study infrastructure in permafrost and remediation of permafrost-affected soils. The experience has left me with a lasting respect for the North and its people.

  T.L. (Les) White, PhD

• About the artwork and artist

  Artist: Linda Skoglund

  Title: Arctic Dream

  In the winter of 2015 I flew to Lapland where I was to stay for five weeks filming families on their quest to find Santa. As I'm from Sweden I know about snow, winter and being extremely cold and felt prepared for my adventure working outside in the Arctic Circle. I arrived to a surprisingly warmish Lapland sweating in my borrowed snowsuit. Too warm for this kind of latitude and time of year.

  Lapland doesn’t offer much daylight. If there ever was a time to seize the day it’s here or you live in forever darkness. It is the extreme cold crisp days that present astonishing beauty where the sky is shimmering pinks and your nostril hair freezes with every inhalation. When beauty actually hurts.

  Arctic Dream is the first of my Goddess paintings. She is the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights. Ideas for this painting started on the most magical Christmas Eve, on a snow slope tobogganing under the magnificent Aurora.

  What really saddens me is the amount of wastage consumed by everyone who goes there which could easily be avoided with simple changes to the operation. Visitors leave behind a mountain of rubbish. Leave No Trace and recycling could be part of the journey and such a simple thing as giving out reusable cups would make a huge difference. People do not know the impact they have on our environment and Lapland is changing way too quickly for us to be comfortable with it.
  Arctic Dream, Linda Skoglund, 2015-16, oil on canvas
  www.lindaskoglund.co.uk

• About the artwork and artist

  Artist: Abraham Anghik Ruben

  Title: Arctic Apocalypse

  The arctic is a highly sensitive region of the world that is profoundly affected by drastic changes in the climate. These changes have already made a major impact on the inhabitants; the Inuit, Polar bears, whales, walruses, and seals. Due to these climatic changes these animals have had to change their feeding habits. The consequence resulting from these changes is that their migration patterns had to change. These migratory changes have made it much more difficult for the native people to hunt. Some coastline villages have had to move to higher grounds do to the rising water levels which is another effect of global warming.

  The global warming effect will have a major effect on the survival and cultural identity of the native people that inhabit these lands.

  In this sculpture Abraham depicts the Inuit, Norse, birds, spirits and animals crowding together on a remnant of an iceberg. They are huddled together to protect themselves from falling off. Arctic Apocalypse is Abraham’s interpretation of circumpolar cultures confronted with catastrophic climate change and the effect of global warming.

  Kipling Gallery
  7938 Kipling Ave
  Vaughan ON, L4L 1Z5
  www.kiplinggallery.com

• About the artwork and artist

  Artist: Abraham Anghik Ruben

  Title: End of the Road

  The idea of my continued interest of the effects of global warming on the arctic. In my conversations with people from the north, from east to west arctic, travelling on sea ice has become perilous. The reliance on timely seasonal changes have become difficult, the spring comes too soon and freeze up late into the winter making travel on sea ice untenable. The hunter is shown standing opposite to the front of the sled, which means he has looked out forward, looked full circle, and all he sees is no way in, and no way out.

  Kipling Gallery
  7938 Kipling Ave
  Vaughan ON, L4L 1Z5
  www.kiplinggallery.com

• About the artwork and artist

  Artist: Abraham Anghik Ruben

  Title: Life out of Balance

  This sculpture represents a time of great climatic change which took place in the arctic in the 12th and 13th centuries that led to the decline of Norse settlements and eventually total collapse. The climate of this region was warmer during the first centuries of settlement and became increasingly colder. This colder weather was known as “The Little Ice Age.” The land had been depleted of its natural resources that would be used to sustain their lives. The cooling of the environment made it more difficult to survive. This cooling created shorter summers so that the Norse could not grow sufficient hay to keep their animals alive during winter. They would try to hunt for seals to survive. When the seals did not arrive the Norse would starve. This collapse is represented by Sedna, the sea goddess, holding up the world in the form of an iceberg. The few remaining Inuit and Norse people stand and looking outward. This is a mirror to what is happening today.

  Kipling Gallery
  7938 Kipling Ave
  Vaughan ON, L4L 1Z5
  www.kiplinggallery.com

• About the artwork and artist

  Artist: Abraham Anghik Ruben

  Title: Failing Light

  With the decline of the fortunes of Viking colonists in North America and the drastic change of climate in the North Atlantic, from warm to cold, the Vikings must choose to abandon their far flung Northern outposts. The last departures would take place in southern Greenland. This sculpture of the mother bear with cubs represents that last generation leaving from Greenland back to Iceland. On the backside of the bear are decorative images from the Viking world. The front of the bear with the image of Sedna, and the two bear cubs playing inside the mother, this represents the coming of the new Inuit migrants to Greenland.

  Kipling Gallery
  7938 Kipling Ave
  Vaughan ON, L4L 1Z5
  www.kiplinggallery.com

• About the artwork and artist

  Artist: Allyson Comstock

  Title: Antarctica: Micro, Macro and In-between # 8

  The drawing Antarctica: Micro, Macro and In-between # 8 serves to raise questions about how we view and understand the natural world and in particular Antarctica. In this drawing, multiple perceptions of the Antarctic environment are presented. In one panel a macro view of the Antarctica landscape presents an average person’s view of the natural world – a panoramic view of the landscape wherein its grandeur is experienced. A second panel presents a microscopic view of the natural world – a deeper view typically seen only by research scientists. These views are layered onto an “in-between” view to create a new perception of the Antarctic environment.

  As this visual narrative is experienced, the importance of perceptions relative to what one knows, understands, and values in nature is discovered. The familiar broad landscape view and the scientists’ microscopic view are brought together by the artist’s view to create an understanding the relational nature of the two - what happens at the smallest (microscopic) level in the Antarctic environment affects the big landscape view that is so well known and admired and vice versa. The ultimate goal is to create a deeper appreciation of the Antarctic environment and a deeper appreciation of scientific research as a way of knowing and understanding the natural world.

  Thanks to Ryan Fantasia a member of Dr. Grace Saba’s research team for sharing the photograph of a krill nauplius that was used in the creation of this drawing.

• About the artwork and artist

  Artist: Helen Girard

  My northern experience started when I moved to Yellowknife, NWT where I lived for over 20 years. I had the chance to travel to different regions which initiated the desire to paint the beauty surrounding me.

  The north so pure, vast and untouched, so colourful with its changes of seasons. Bare lands and this attraction and marvel I have with ice formations, snow and icebergs have been an eternal source of inspiration.

  Later on living in northern Quebec in a small community. Renewing my sources with the north. Feeding my art with scenes of blizzards, blowing snow, feelings of coldest and warmth brought by the colours a 6 hours long sunset can create, the wildlife and its people.

  And Antarctica. It has open my heart even more. The bareness and crispness of the landscapes. The coldness, blues, squared and sculpted shapes, the harshness, grandiose and amazingly beautiful!

  Like walking into a new world. Stillness filled with birds, seals and penguins. Other places empty of life yet vibrant and alive! Telling me stories of past explorers who dared adventure themselves. For me an exhilarating experience which lives within ever since. And that wind... which shapes and changes everything.

  Through my art I want to bring attention to these 2 worlds. They need to win the heart of the people before they change forever. Painting the arctic and the antarctic, how can the artist in me be more happy! I dream, I remember and I want to share!

  www.arthelenegirard.com

• About the artwork and artist

  Artist: Vincent Reed

  Title: Arctic Permafrost

  Inspiration: Most of my artworks are abstract in nature, where I draw much of my inspiration from our amazing planet and its ever changing environment. I use the latest images captured by satellites orbiting the earth and translate them into abstract artworks, bringing attention to the effects of global warming, mass population and uncontrolled pollution. This specific piece is based on and inspired by the Arctic Permafrost with layers of permanently frozen ice encapsulating the bedrock and sedimentary soil buried deep below. With the world’s eyes focusing on the arctic regions it’s become clear that the rapidly changing environment of the area is being permanently affected by releasing greenhouse gases and melting ice.

  Description: The Arctic Permafrost has been constructed using a unique process of building up textures in layers, where I apply multiple sedimentary stone layers slowly achieving the desired effect and highlighting the three dimensional quality of the landscape. Once the stone layers are dry I apply combinations of paints such as lilacs, soft greys, blues, purples & various white tones helping to create this dramatic interpretation of the polar landscape.

• About the artwork and artist

  Artist: Xavier Cortada
  Title: Astrid

  Series: Ice Paintings: Antarctic Sea Ice series
  Medium: Sea ice from the Antarctica’s Ross Sea, sediment from Antarctica’s Dry Valleys and mixed media on paper
  Size: 12 inches x 9 inches
  Year: 2007
  Created onsite at McMurdo Station, Ross Island, Antarctica

  "Astrid," 2007 (permanent collection of the Whatcom Museum in Bellingham, Washington.

  Antarctic Ice Paintings

  Xavier Cortada, recipient of a 2006-2007 National Science Foundation Antarctic Artists and Writers fellowship, traveled to Antarctica to implement a series of projects and installations. While there, the Miami artist created “ice paintings” using glacial ice (WAIS), sea ice, glacier and sediment samples provided to him by scientists working in Antarctica. The artist titled the works on paper by randomly selecting the names of geographic features from a map of the continent that inspired their creation.

  Read more about Astrid here:

  Art in the Anthropocene, by Alan C. Braddock and Renée Ater. Source: American Art, Vol. 28, No. 3 (Fall 2014), p. cover2. Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

  Read more about Xavier Cordada's biography.

• About the artwork and artist

  Artist: Xavier Cortada

  Title: 90N/90S: North Pole & South Pole Installations

  Miami based artist Xavier Cortada has created art installations at the Earth's poles to generate awareness about global climate change:

  In 2007, the artist used the moving ice sheet beneath the South Pole as an instrument to mark time; the art piece will be completed in 150,000 years (see http://cortada.com/2007/TheMarkers/About).

  In 2008, he planted a green flag at North Pole to reclaim it for nature and launch a participatory eco-art project to help reforest the world below (see http://www.nativeflags.org).

  At both poles, he created the Longitudinal Installation (see http://longitudinalinstallation.org):

  “I will place 12 pairs of shoes in a circle around the ceremonial South Pole as a temporary installation. Placing the shoes next to each other as a proxy for people across the globe, I aim to conceptually diminish the distance between them.”
  — Xavier Cortada

  Cortada placed 24 in a circle around the North and South Poles, each representing a person living in a different part of the world affected by climate change. The shoes were placed next to each other in their respective longitudes as a proxy for people in the world below. After positioning the shoes, Cortada went to each shoe and recited a statement from a person living in that longitude about how climate change affected or will affect them.

  The South Pole Installations were sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Antarctic Artists and Writers Program.

  The North Pole Installations were sponsored by the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Sponsored Artists program.

  Read more about Xavier Cordada's biography.

• About the artwork and artist

  Artist: Xavier Cortada

  Title: "The Markers (South Pole)," 2007

  On January 4, 2007, the 50th anniversary of the opening of the South Pole station, Miami artist Xavier Cortada arrived at the South Pole to create art as part of a National Science Foundation Antarctic Artists and Writers fellowship. In creating the work, Cortada used the 3 km thick glacial ice sheet that covers the South Pole as an instrument to mark time.

  Cortada planted 51 flags along a half-kilometer stretch of the moving ice sheet. Spaced 10 meters apart, each flag marked the spot where the geographic South Pole stood during each year since 1956, when the Pole became permanently inhabited. The different colored flags also displayed the coordinates of the location of an important event that moved the world forward during that year.

  At the 2007 location of the geographic South Pole, Cortada planted an ice replica of a mangrove seedling. Embedded in the moving ice, the "seedling" began its roughly 1,400 km journey towards the Weddell Sea. In 150,000 years it will reach the coastline and, theoretically, set its roots.

  Through this work, Cortada invites viewers to reflect on our role on this planet. Juxtaposing geological time frames (e.g., “The 150,000-year Journey”) with human time frames (e.g., “The Markers”), Cortada reaffirms the notion that we are merely custodians who should live in harmony with nature during the brief time we are here.

  Read more about Xavier Cortada's biography. 

  The Markers

  1956
  90°S (Antarctica)
  Construction crews arrive at the South Pole

  1957
  47°50'N 66°03'E (Soviet Union,
  launched from Baikonur)
  Sputnik, the first satellite to orbit Earth, is launched into space

  1958
  48°52'N 02°20'E (France)
  Pan Am's transatlantic 707 flight lands in Paris, jet age begins

  1959
  32°47'N 96°48'W (United States)
  Microchip is invented

  1960
  11°21'N 142°12'E (Pacific Ocean)
  Trieste dives to the bottom of the Mariana Trench: 35,813 feet

  1961
  47°50'N 66°03'E
  (Soviet Union,
  launched from Baikonur)
  Yuri Gagarin is first man in space

  1962
  42°22'N 71°04'W (United States)
  Rachel Carson's Silent Spring is published

  1963
  38°53'N 77°02'W 38°53'N (United States)
  March on Washington for Civil Rights

  1964
  40°43'N 74°00'W (United States)
  Beatlemania sweeps America

  1965
  23°08'N 82°22'W (Cuba)
  Freedom Flights for Cuban refugees begin

  1966
  28°40'N 77°13'E (India)
  Indira Gandhi elected first woman prime minister of India, the world's largest democracy

  1967
  33°55'S 18°22'E (South Africa)
  First human heart transplant

  1968
  55°45'N 37°35'E (Soviet Union)
  Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty signed in Moscow, London and Washington, D.C.

  1969
  28°24'N 80°36'W (United States,
  launched from Cape Canaveral)
  The Eagle lands on the moon

  1970
  13°06'N 59°37'W (Barbados)
  Ra II crosses Atlantic in 57 days

  1971
  37°21'N 121°16'W (United States)
  Microprocessor is invented

  1972
  39°55'N 116°25'E (China)
  Nixon visits China

  1973
  33°86'S 151°22'E (Australia)
  Sydney Opera House is built

  1974
  08°59'N 40°10'E (Ethiopia)
  Skeleton of "Lucy," our 3.2 million year old ancestor, is discovered

  1975
  19°24'N 99°09'W (Mexico)
  United Nations convenes First World Conference on Women

  1976
  28°24'N 80°36'W (United States,
  launched from Cape Canaveral)
  Viking I and II land on Mars

  1977
  01°43'N 44°53'E (Somalia)
  Smallpox eradicated from Earth

  1978
  53°33N 02°07'W (England)
  First test tube baby born

  1979
  40°01'N 105°16'W (United States)
  Ten independent living centers were founded across the US for persons with disabilities

  1980
  54°23'N 18°40'E (Poland)
  Solidarity strikes across Poland

  1981
  41°08N 73°42'W (United States)
  IBM launches personal computer

  1982
  50°50'N 0°08'W (England)
  Whale hunting moratorium enacted

  1983
  41°54'N 12°27'E (Vatican City)
  Pope John Paul II retracts the ban on Galileo

  1984
  37°19'N 122°02'W (United States)
  Apple Macintosh launched

  1985
  09°02'N 38°42'E (Ethiopia)
  Live Aid concerts raise millions to reduce famine

  1986
  14°37'N 121°00'E (Philippines)
  Corazon Aquino leads People Power to end Marcos regime in the Philippines

  1987
  39°46'N 86°09'W (United States)
  Anti-depressant Prozac is introduced

  1988
  33°27'S 70°40'W (Chile)
  Chile plebiscite ends dictatorship, ushers in democracy across South America

  1989
  52°30'N 13°25'E (Germany)
  Berlin Wall is knocked down

  1990
  51°04'N 01°51'E (English Channel)
  Tunnel links UK and Europe

  1991
  55°45'N 37°35'E (Russia)
  Russia becomes "independent" as the Soviet Union collapses

  1992
  22°53'S 43°06'W (Brazil)
  First Earth Summit's Rio Declaration has 153 countries focus on sustainable development

  1993
  15°46'S 47°55'E (United States)
  World Wide Web browser is created, distributed

  1994
  25°45'S 28°10'E (South Africa)
  Apartheid ends in South Africa, Mandela elected president

  1995
  44°40'N 111°06'W (United States)
  Grey wolves return to the American West

  1996
  76°43'S 159°40'E (Antarctica)
  NASA announces that the Antarctic's ALH 84001 meteorite points to existence of life on Mars

  1997
  35°00'N 135°45'E (Japan)
  Kyoto Protocol enacted

  1998
  03°10'N 101°42'E (Malaysia)
  Petronas Towers topped at 1483 ft.,
  the tallest building at that time

  1999
  09°32'N 21°72'E (Egypt)
  Breitling Orbiter 3 hot air balloon sails non-stop around the world

  2000
  33°52'S 151°13'E (Australia)
  Cathy Freeman, the Aboriginal runner, wins Olympic gold

  2001
  12°03'S 77°03'W (Peru)
  A 4,000-year-old site yielded the remains of the oldest known city in the New World

  2002
  15°46'S 47°55'W (Brazil)
  Brazil Soccer wins 5th World Cup

  2003
  52°13N 00°08'W (England)
  Human Genome Project completed

  2004
  37°23'N 122°05'W (United States)
  Google, digital music, wireless technologies and blogs boomed

  2005
  20°24'N 03°41'W (Spain)
  Spain ends all discrimination based on sexual orientation

  2006
  27°08'S 109°22'W (Easter Island)
  Scientists discover new species

• About the artwork and artist

  Artist: Marina Rees

  Title: Whale Bone Stamps

  My project on whales started in 2013 in Húsavík, north Iceland, and culminated to an exhibition at the Húsavík Whale Museum in 2016. Research was done with the museum's collection, and through my own interaction with nature. I combed the shores in search of marine mammal bones, cleaned the skeletons of stranded cetaceans, and also researched on whale watching boats, investigating the experience of being at sea and encountering live whales.

  A series of carved bones and prints entitled Whale Bone Stamps were produced for the show, amongst other works. Fragments of whale bones found on the beach were used to create stamps of various species seen in the local bay, those stamps became tools to represent their living cousins.

  Through my interactions with local scientists, I have learnt that some species now being seen in the bay (such as the humpback whale and the blue whale) have only just come to this higher latitude regularly within the last ten years, possibly due to warming seas. In light of this information, one cannot but wonder about the future of this fast changing environment, which species will fail to adapt and which will succeed. It seems these places need to be, more than ever, recorded and studied before they become unrecognisable.

  Contact: www.marinarees.co.uk

1- Orca print and stamp carved out of whale bone

2- Blue whale print and stamp carved out of whale bone

3- Humpback whale observed in the bay of Húsavík

4- Humpback whale print and stamp carved out of whale bone

5- Seascape, Húsavík

6- Pilot whale print and stamp carved out of whale bone

• About the artwork and artist

  Artist: Koen Lybaert
  Title: Gates of the Arctic Wilderness [Abstract N° 1786]
  oil on canvas [100 x 160 x 4 cm] / 2017

  My biggest inspiration is nature in all its forms. A lot of my work presents abstracted views of landscapes. I often find inspiration during my daily long walks in the Flemish countryside or places I visit during my holidays. But I am also often inspired by places I’ve never visited. Then I do intensive research about them. During one of these researches I came across some articles about The Gates of the Arctic Wilderness and that inspired me deeply to create this painting. When I look at images of the Arctic is like looking at nature in its purest form, with all its power and beauty. I don’t see the Arctic as a desolated place but as a region full of life, movement and colors and that’s what I tried to capture in this painting. The images of the Arctic winter are full of subtle colors and layered whites that are ideal for creating abstract landscapes.
  My work is not direct or political but I try to represent my feelings and thoughts in a subtle way. For instance, I am really concerned about climate change. In works like this, I try to highlight these concerns and hopefully it can make people think about it as well.

  Contact: Koen Lybaert
  Esther Santoyo Gallery CVOA
  Voshonink 3 | 2440 Geel | Belgium
  www.santoyogallery.com