Andreas Siqueland
Norwegian artist Andreas Siqueland carried out an unusual experiment when he temporarily moved his studio out to sea.
In 2015, he sailed across the North Atlantic Ocean onboard two sailboats. The journey from Århus in Denmark to St. John’s in Newfoundland, Canada, followed the northern route, docking in the Shetland Islands, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland along the way. En route, he created paintings on wood panels stored in a handmade trunk that was also used as an easel. Siqueland’s voyage was inspired by his longstanding interest in how different conditions affect the painting process.
His experience of the voyage completely surprised him, as the conditions always made him aware of his body. “Painting in motion is about being a moving observer and interpreter, tracking change and being part of it,” he says. In Painting Across the Atlantic, the seaborne works are installed on larger canvases made after the journey. Siqueland’s journey is a testament to a profound and personal experience of nature: at once enchanting, overwhelming, and repellent to be performed again and again.
Andreas Siqueland (Norway, born 1973), Painting Across the Atlantic, 2015–2016 (installation details), acrylic paint on wood panels and canvas, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist. © Andreas Siqueland
“Before the voyage I thought the crossing would be more of a monotonous affair – that I would have time to concentrate and be at ease. That was not at all the case – things are changing all the time and hopefully the paintings communicate some of this restlessness...”
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