Metaphorical Antipodes

Here, Russell has sculpted icebergs based on calving glaciers in Ilulissat, Greenland and the Antarctic Peninsula. They were formed into moulds, filled with water, frozen, and photographed against a backdrop of the imagery that inspired them. The moulds were cast into glass, a fragile medium that mirrors the ephemerality of the ice itself.

In her own words, ‘my process is dependent upon the weather and its unpredictability is one of many causes for concern. I fabricate landscapes as if these actions will be the only versions left once the icecaps are gone. There is a sense of urgency in documenting the disappearances of places in peril as this affects everyone, despite our political, geographical, and cultural differences.’

Metaphorical Antipodes explores opposites and extremes in location, age, attitude and knowledge. Most simply, it shows how “here” effects “there” and “there” impacts everywhere. This concept is represented through constructing fabricated landscapes and documenting their exact locations on Earth. The first chapter of the project, The Arctic Circle and Antarctica, focusses on climate change and the impacts of global warming as seen in Greenland, Iceland and the Antarctic Peninsula.

The globe is featured prominently, appearing as a split form and encased in ice, alluding to a melt pond. It is a symbol for the antipode, directly referencing the word’s origins as a point of opposition and a stand-in for humanity and its fragility. Icebergs are reformed into ice and glass. The moulds melt on large archival pigment prints in a backyard in the American Midwest. The glass sculptures are a permanent replication, however, they too are constructed of easily shattered material. Russell writes, ‘I rebuild natural phenomenon from half a world away and watch it fall with the same helpless observation after learning yet another irreplaceable iceberg calved near the Poles.’

Born in Idaho, Jacinda Russell is a conceptual artist with a longstanding interest in edges, borders, and topographical extremes, exploring the impacts of human-accelerated climate change in the polar regions. Currently, she lives in Indianapolis and works as an Associate Professor of Art at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.

Russell works primarily in the mediums of photography, sculpture, installation, and bookmaking. Her artwork has been exhibited at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center, Texas Gallery, Houston Center for Photography, and the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. She is the recipient of the DeHaan Artist of Distinction Award of the Arts Council of Indianapolis, Indiana and the Photographic Arts Council / Los Angeles Research Fellowship at the Center for Creative Photography. She received her BFA from Boise State University in Studio Art and her MFA from the University of Arizona.