Rise of Tidal Island/ Ice Queens, 2023/2024

The XR project "Rise of the Tidal Island Queens" took inspiration from a series of performative self-portraits that the artist took at age 50 and the myth of Aphrodite’s violent birth; how the goddess of Love and Fertility was born a grown woman shaped form the white foam of the sea. The audio part was built upon anonymously collected written and oral reflections of middle-aged women and how they feel in their body and mind. The project is an ever evolving, site-specific work that dynamically adapts to each environment it inhabits. During an artist residency at Moskosel Creative Lab in Lapland/ Sweden the project was adapted to the stories and landscapes of Lapland/ Northern Sweden. I visited the Ajtte Museum in Jokkmokk to research Sami traditions, 3d scanned the Northern environments and recorded 360 videos of Aurora to build the virtual world for the Island Queens covered in ice and snow and skies illuminated by Aurora. The "Tidal Island Queens" became "Ice Queens". I was particularly curious about the role of women in Sami culture and read Ann – Helen Laestadius’s book "Stolen", where she portrays a woman’s struggle to defend her heritage in a world where climate change looms and the tensions that arise when modern ideas come up against traditional culture. Visitors of the VR experience witness and can take part in a ritual performed by the “Ice Queens” under the skies of Aurora. They can teleport around the snow island surrounded by frozen lakes and lie down in the snow to listen to the sound design by experimental musician Christoph Zeckel (2024). Visitors can further interact with three floating spheres which will take them into the world of the original "Tidal Island Queens". Here they can listen to women reading collected quotes about how they feel in their body and mind at middleage. The sound design was arranged by composer Isa Suarez (2023).