Since my arrival on Hrísey I often go for walks. I am mesmerized by the closeness of the white mountains and the deep blue or anthracite sea.

When I look at the sea I often get a sense of looking into the sea. Often images appear, reminding me that very close from where I stand on land wales are moving under the surface of the water.

A question that accompanies my sabbatical, these seven weeks in Iceland at the end of the year, towards the winter solestice and a new beginning, is about the coherence of the traces in my life.

On one day a process of painting began, first in unstructured lines and shapes that started to form into round shapes. They seemed to speak of the ovum as the principle of life. And as it continued, more forms appeared that reminded me of creatures of the sea. They seemed to appear as an information, for a short moment turning up from the deep blue to go back into the deep blue.

It feels like getting a glimpse into a part of life, worth to be protected.


The music that I listened to while the paintings emerged were

• Arvo Pärt: Da Pacem Domine (Da Pacem, 2004)
• Ólafur Arnalds: „Árabakkinn“ (Island Songs, 2016), „they sink“ and „nyepi“ (re:member, 2018)
• Nils Frahm: „Four Hands“ (Solo, 2015)