Creativity Coming to the Westfjords!!

We're really excited to announce the names of the artists who will be joining us for the first Wildfjords Artist Residency (WFAR) trail in July 2014. We have great variety and depth of experience and can't wait to welcome them to the Westfjords. 

We also have two competition winners joining us for the first complete trail in June; please find links to/their winning entries below.

THE ARTISTS

Kate Angus is a writer of prose and poetry dealing with biology, archetypal motifs and historical narratives. 

http://therumpus.net/2013/11/salt-a-triptych/

Emma Houlihan is an artist whose work engages people with places and people with people, offering new perspectives on everyday situations. Emma adopts walking as a form of performative research - a tool for fresh interaction between landscape and communities.

http://www.leitrimsculpturecentre.ie/ programme/residencies/2009/ res_emma_houlihan.html

Gemma Messih is an artist exploring the human relationship to natural phenomenon and the desire for connection inherent in all of us – they use photography, video, sculpture and installation.

http://gemmamessih.com/

Danica Novgorodoff is a published graphic novelist whose tales of epic journeys, anti-heroes, ancient folklore and modern love often find their inspiration from her own journeys.

www.danicanovgorodoff.com

Pam Posey is an artist with previous experience in Iceland, her work combines art and science in a speculative interpretation of the natural world and her current project ‘Stone Dislocation’ has been dubbed a form of lithic anarchy.

http://www.pamposey.com/

Logan T. Sibrel is a painter who examines the fragmented nature of identity through rendering and erasure, inclusion and omission, and who alternately assumes the roles of diarist and documentarian.

http://logantsibrel.com/

Garth Wallbridge is a lawyer, business executive and indigenous leader in Canada’s North West Territories; also a photographer and writer of books on subjects including: youth leadership programs for aboriginals; the role jail in today’s society; and hiking.

http://www.garthwallbridge.com

Deb Todd Wheeler is new media artist who blurs the lines between sculpture, performative objects, installations, video, photography, and audioscapes to produce an energetic and evolutionary study of the found and created sublime.

http://babel.massart.edu/~debtoddwheeler/

Haleidoscope, by Tanja Geis

The Competition Winners

First place: Connie Butler wins a place on North Section: Wild Food and Pack Horses

Video piece titled, 'Millennium Promenade'

Second place: Kate Harel wins a place on South Section: Wild Stories

Written piece titled, 'My trek through Dragon Isle'

Dragon Isle, where I live, is a beautiful, enchanted island, which has only one drawback: its ruler, Dragon Lord Brekelore, demands payment of a gold bullion brick from anyone leaving the island.

I had just won a ticket to a faraway land, and wanted to leave the island, but had no gold bullion to pay the Dragon Lord. If I could elude the Dragon Patrol, I could get to the small rowboat hidden at Griffin’s Canal, at the other end of the island.

I packed only what I needed, donned my hiking shoes, and set out on my trek. After crossing the prickly Thorn River, I climbed Mount Sillyous, where every step forward takes you two steps back. I stopped for a quick rest, and continued my journey through the frightening caverns of Yoth, lit solely by the flapping wings of the Lightening Bazbatroths. Having braved the dark cave, I arrived at the Everpure Forest, an enchanted woodland, home to such magical creatures as dancing elves and fiddler frogs.

While walking through the seemingly endless wood, which was getting darker by the minute, I met Viraellio the talking butterfly, and asked her if she could lead me to the canal.

“I know a shortcut. Follow me,” she said. We drank some nectar from the Smiling Orchid and off we went. After fluttering her way through the thickets and rocks that filled the forest, we could see the shore, and not a dragon guard in sight. I thanked Viraellio and continued on my own.

But the Dragon Patrol was more watchful than I’d expected, and as my weary legs reached the docking boat, a ball of fire stopped me in my tracks. “Who dares to leave without payment?” roared the dragon guard. Too petrified to reply, I looked into his eyes for mercy, and noticed that unlike other dragons, whose eyes are yellowish-green, his were as blue as Lake Langisjor.

“Please, sir,” I pleaded, “I have no gold. I just wanted to sail to Iceland for a hiking trip.” “Iceland?!” he exclaimed. “I’m from Iceland!” “You’re kidding! Where from?” I asked. “From Galdurfjord, in the south!” he cried joyously. “That’s where I’m headed! If you let me sail, that is.” He checked to make sure no one was looking, and whispered: “I wouldn’t want to stop you from visiting my beautiful homeland.” And with one push, he set me sailing safely to Galdurfjord.

His name was Draupnir the Dragon, and I owe my 2014 Wildfjords hiking trip to him.

Black sand, photo by Tanja Geis

The Wildfjords Artist Residency is sponsored by grants from the University of California Institute for Research in the Arts and the Shinnyo-en Fellowship for Peacebuilding.