A surreal landscape of Iceland

About two years ago

About two years ago, I saw a music video clip which was produced in Iceland:

Hania Rani — ’F Major’ (Official Video) [Gondwana Records]

In this video, I was delighted by the miraculous combination of wind, water and space, with which the music of Hania Rani and the dance arrangements of Mellina Boubetra, Janina Sarantsina and Fanny Sage perfectly harmonized. All of this was filmed with a single sequence shot. The artists themselves said that a strange harmony of time, place and action happened in their video. The works of Icelandic musicians such as Ólafur Arnalds, Jóhann Gunnar Jóhannsson and Björk convinced me about the deeper dimension of Icelandic nature and culture identity. I started dreaming about seeing Iceland.

Now I am a student

Now I am a student of the Raseko school, majoring in Textile Design and Fashion. For the last half of the year, I have been studying the “Use of Special Equipment in Production” course, which was conducted at Fab Lab Raseko. And now I am doing an internship at Fab Lab Isafjordur in Iceland as part of this course! So, I am very happy that I can feel this country, its climate, the nature of Iceland, and watch it every day for three months, although I probably won’t see the beach from the Hania Rani video, due to the long distances. Already flying from Helsinki to Reykjavik, I saw the uniqueness of Icelandic, and amazing photos that I saw previously were not necessarily “photoshopped” to look more impressive. My first impressions were accompanied by clouds, which repeatedly blocked the view from the plane window like a curtain in a theater, and again for a few minutes revealed it to show Iceland´s landscapes as from a dream, as from another planet.

This feeling

This feeling of being in an unearthly place was even more intensified during the flight in a tiny plane from Reykjavik to Isafjördur. Fortunately, I was able to sit by the window again, and this time the sky was not cloudy at all.

I am also grateful

I am also grateful for be offered a corner room in a dormitory with a lot of windows from which I can see both Isafjördur bay, and the mountains surrounding it. Every day I photograph the views from my window, the changing clouds, the sun shifting along the slopes of the mountains, transforming nature from summer to autumn, and soon to winter. Almost every day brings different moods of photos, completely different arrangements of clouds, sun, and colors …

In my free time

In my free time, I walk along the local trails, and on the weekends, I have been looking for opportunities to see other parts of the fjords of northwestern Iceland. And last weekend there was this amazing time to be able to see the amazing Dynjandi waterfall! I was most impressed by its location. Peaceful mountain ranges stretched to one side, and the valley was filled with turquoise water, similar to Japanese woodcuts. And on the other side you could see a picture that completely contrasted with it: The cascades of the waterfall set among some rocks resembling people, as if they were queuing waiting to see Dynjandi waterfall. As if an enchanted medieval city was lying at the foot of the waterfall, with enchanted guards and other fantastic creatures. I think it’s time for me to start reading the Icelandic Sagas.

Each day

Each day brings new impressions, new inspirations, new ideas. One day I saw a killer whale in a nearby bay, and on another day, I watched the Aurora Borealis- the Northern Lights- for the first time in my life.

I dream about

I dream about doing a series of works in Fab Lab, which also, at least in part, express this nature, just like the people who created Hania Rani’s music video did. So, I took on the challenge of creating a series of earrings, the designs of which can also be used for other types of souvenirs from Isafjordur. Inspirations surround me in infinite number. But I will talk about this and other projects in Fab Lab Isafjordur another time.