MARKING THE LAND, ATTEMPTING TO LEAVE NO TRACE:

A Conversation on Artistic Intentions and the Current Landscape

Authors

  • Becky Forsythe Author
  • Þorgerður Ólafsdóttir Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37522/vxg7hm07

Keywords:

Relations, women’s experience, Landscape, ecologies, land, collection, care, labour, ecofeminism, identity, place, collaboration, gathering, Iceland, Anthropocene

Abstract

Curator Becky Forsythe and artist Þorgerður Ólafsdóttir propose a dialogue about leaving no trace when engaged in ecologically aware art practices.

Author Biographies

  • Becky Forsythe

    Becky Forsythe (1984) is a curator of settler Canadian descent based in Iceland, with over a decade of experience in contemporary art. Her practice centres relationship-building as a means to curate with sensitivity and openness. Becky has led and collaborated on projects, exhibitions, and publications in museums and artist-led initiatives including the Reykjavík Art Museum, The Living Art Museum, Hafnarborg, Gerðarsafn, Kling & Bang, and Skaftfell. Previously a Project Manager at the Reykjavík Art Museum and co-host of the Icelandic Art Center podcast Out There, Becky has been a sessional teacher and MA advisor at the Iceland University of the Arts. Between 2014-18 she was the Collection Manager at The Living Art Museum, a role that continues to inform her work with artists and collections.

    Becky is on the editorial board of the magazine Art in Iceland, and most recently held a research position at the Reykjavík Art Museum focused on the role of women in Icelandic art. Her research explores the pivotal role of women artists, networks, and initiatives in shaping the Icelandic art scene during the transformative decade of the 1980s, realized in an exhibition and publication titled Swell at Reykjavík Art Museum, Kjarvalsstaðir in 2025.

  • Þorgerður Ólafsdóttir

    Þorgerður Ólafsdóttir (1985) is a visual artist based in Iceland. Her work is layered in process, research, and fieldwork, where her approach is recognised through different notions of time, narratives, and scales. She holds an MA in Fine Art from the Glasgow School of Art (2013) and received a BA in Fine Art from the Iceland University of the Arts (2009). Þorgerður is part of the research project Relics of Nature— an Archaeology of Natural Heritage in the High North, which aims to explore understandings and manifestations of natural heritage in the context of the climate crisis. In summer 2021, Þorgerður received a research permit to travel to Surtsey island (erupt. 1963-67). Her stay on the island has highly influenced her practice. In her recent publication, Island Fiction, Þorgerður weaves together artworks with essays that address the complex aspects of the existence, herstory, and meaning of Surtsey. She has an ongoing collaboration with the artist Gunndís Ýr Finnbogadóttir and the curator Becky Forsythe. Their exhibition project Unstable Ground opened at Gerðarsafn Art Museum this year. Þorgerður’s exhibition Future Fragments took place between 8 June – 10 November 2024 as part of the Reykjavík Arts Festival at the National Museum of Iceland.

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Published

2025-02-21

Issue

No. 1 (2025): Edge of the Glacier

Section

Articles