With support of his 2018 Guggenheim Fellowship, Ian van Coller is spending much of this year on the road continuing his ongoing work, Naturalists of the Long Now, a study on deep time and collaboration with climate change scientists.
This June, van Coller accompanied glacier scientists Dr. Carsten Braun to Uganda to photograph the few remaining glaciers in the Rwenzori mountains. In 1906, the Rwenzori was home to 43 named glaciers distributed over six mountains and by 2005 less than half of these were still present on only three mountains. The Rwenzori Mountains are a source of the Nile River and support varied ecosystems and significant biodiversity; vegetation shifts with altitude from tropical rainforest to alpine meadows and snow packed peaks.
Rwenzori Mountains (above)
In August, van Coller voyaged to Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago to collaborate with master printers Todd Anderson and Bruce Crownover of celebrated Tandem Press, Madison, WI. Named after English explorer William Baffin, the island was likely visited by pre-Colombian Norse explorers and is believed to be the site of Helluland referred to in the sagas of Eric the Red.
Back to the arctic for van Coller in October, this time to Svalbard in the Norwegian archipelago. Situated midway between continental Norway and the North Pole, Svalbard is home to an Arctic Circle Residency. The program is "a nexus where art intersects science, architecture, education, and activism – an incubator for thought and experimentation for artists and innovators who seek out and foster areas of collaboration to engage in the central issues of our time."
Baffin Island (above)
Van Coller is now in Antartica contributing to the National Science Foundation (NSF) Artist and Writers program. Funded by the the NSF, the program is devoted to scientific research and education in support of the National interest in the Antarctic. Participants will have access to program stations, research camps, and wilderness areas.
This article includes early release images; more work and news from the field forthcoming.
These bodies of work available in two sizes as designated by the artist.
24 x 32 in. | Edition of 10 | $1,500
30 x 40 in. | Edition of 5 | $3,500
40 x 50 in. | Edition of 3 | $4,500