These images are from a week-long residency in Utsira awarded by Rogaland Fylkeskommune, where I lived in the lighthouse keeper’s house. The island was covered in aromatic heather that would waft into the open windows at night, and had rich marches full of lingonberries. At night, there was nobody in the area surrounding the house so there was nothing but wind and silence, and the magnetic pull of the sparkling lighthouse light. I was later given access to enter into the lighthouse, which had a Fresnel Lens imported from France and offered elevated perspectives of the island. Wild goats ran around this area and on various walks I would be sucked into the unevenly deep marshes in my inadequate footwear, returning wet and covered in mud to the house. During the residency, I produced paintings incorporating the heathers, made a small painting of the lighthouse, I prepared a proposal for a larger project, learned Bach on the piano in the house, learned to kindle fire and use a awoodfired sove, and read the classic Norwegian schoolbooks and other literature about the area in the house. I also documented certain structural elements of the region connecting to previous works.
I arrived to the island by boat, and left with bundles of fresh heather (which later survived a whole winter in a vase in my studio) and some pastries I made on the firewood stove.
