North Tide
Mixed media, sand-based medium and acrylic on canvas
100 × 100 cm · 2026
North Tide holds a moment that in nature lasts an instant. It is built from repeated layers of sand-based medium, left to set in relief. The surface carries the memory of movement: ridges that rise and break, currents that cross one another without merging, crests that settle over earlier crests.
The work draws on the storm surges of the seas off northern Iceland, where waves arriving from different directions meet and overlap. No single wave prevails. Each is shaped by the others, and what reaches the shore is the sum of these encounters rather than any one of them.
Rendered in a single field of gold, the sea loses its colour but keeps its structure. Light moves across the relief as water moves across water, gathering in the crests and withdrawing into the hollows.
