Beneath the Cryosphere
2019
Frozen water appears on Earth in many forms — snow, lakes and rivers, sea ice, glaciers, ice sheets, and permafrost — each with vastly different lifespans. Seasonal snow and freshwater ice last months, while glaciers, ice sheets, and deep Antarctic ice can remain frozen for thousands to over a million years. Antarctica holds the largest volume of ice, but Northern Hemisphere snow and ice cover the greatest area each winter, highlighting their critical role in Earth’s climate system.
Building on the earlier work Piqaluyak (2019), this series explores the transformation of ice sheets and the absence of glaciers. Digitally layered images are printed on aluminium, mirror Dibond, or canvas, then enhanced with hand-drawn motifs in wax pastels or aquarelle. Some pieces are finished with structured Plexiglas overlays, creating subtle visual distortions that invite viewers to consider perception, dimensionality, and the ephemeral nature of ice.
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As a side note: The cryosphere (from the Greek κρύος kryos, "cold", "frost" or "ice" and σφαῖρα sphaira, "globe, ball") relates to the portions of Earth's surface where water is in solid form, including sea ice, lake ice, river ice, snow cover, glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, and frozen ground (which includes permafrost). The cryosphere is an integral part of the global climate system with important linkages and feedbacks generated through its influence on surface energy and moisture fluxes, clouds, precipitation, hydrology, atmospheric and oceanic circulation. Through these feedback processes, the cryosphere plays a significant role in the global climate and in climate model response to global changes. The term deglaciation describes the retreat of cryospheric features.