Artists & Illustrators - UK (2020-01)

POLAR PAINTING

RACHAEL FUNNELL looks at the

work of three artists who have

travelled to the ends of the earth

to document frozen landscapes and

raise awareness of the climate crisis

I

n the wake of growing concerns surrounding the very

real threats of climate change, it’s perhaps unsurprising

that there are artists making some of the globes most

remote, unhospitable and under-threat environments the

subject of their work. What is more surprising, perhaps,

is how these works can be used, with paintings proving

useful for scientific researchers keen to show the rapidly

changing faces of these frozen landscapes as both

temperatures and sea levels continue to rise.

This quest to capture these transitioning environments

connects three highly influential artists operating on

opposite sides of the Atlantic who have all worked in some

of the most remote and fragile places on earth. A new

exhibition at The McManus in Dundee, Among the Polar

Ice, brings together works by a number of artists including

Frances Walker and James Morrison, both of whom have

experienced life on the ice. Meanwhile, New York-based

pastel painter Zaria Forman has undertaken expeditions

with likes of National Geographic and NASA to capture the

dramatic and changing landscapes of the North Pole and

Greenland. But with average temperatures dropping to

minus 40 degrees,whatchallengesdotheseartistsface

undersuchextremeconditions?

BorninthequietoutskirtsofKirkcaldyin1930,Frances

WalkergraduatedfromEdinburghCollegeofArtandspent

severalyearsontravellingscholarships,exploringthelikes

ofIceland,YugoslaviaandGreece,beforetakingupa

teachingpositionintheOuterHebrides.Electricityhadn’t

arrivedinthisfar-flungcornerofScotlandand,withno

conventionalmeansoftransportation,Franceswould

THE

BIG

FRIEZE

COURTESY OF THE ARTIST ZARIA FORMAN

Zaria Forman,
Cierva Cove,
Antarctica No.2,
soft pastel on paper,
177.8x266.7cm

Artists & Illustrators 21