Fjallagrös / Mountain moss ( Cetraria islandica) has been on my mind for a while. These special little vigorous Arctic lichens (True Icelandic lichen) grow on the Melrakkaslétta ( Melrakkaplain)
Lichens are a symbiotic association between fungi and algae. Two organisms that live together and cannot be without each other. The algae provide nutrition for both through photosynthesis, and the fungus obtains water and minerals for both. Clear division of labor and mutual respect!
The title of the work derives its name from this arrangement. The symbiosis of lichens refers to the symbiosis of other organisms., - our relationship with nature and with each other. Lichens’ symbiosis also brings to mind opposites. The algae is the light, the fungus is the darkness. The algae is under, the fungus is over. Opposites are the creative forces of nature that seek balance.
The tectonic plates on the Melrakkaslétta divide it along its length into wetlands and drylands.
And then Þórshani popped up. The rare bird that visits the Melrakkaslétta around the same time I like to be there, on clear summer nights in June and July. Þórshani only comes here to lay eggs. Then he flies off with his babybirds to tropical countries.
The patterns of the eggs of Þórshani are reminiscent of Fjallagrös ( the Mountain moss). I use the cone end of the egg to make one with fjallagrös and another with crystal thread, called ljósleiðari. I put the two cones together to create an egg with the opposites, light and darkness. The Icelandic name for these crystal threads is ljósleiðari, and it brings to mind egg conductors that in Icelandic is eggjaleiðari. And from there it brings to mind the other’s womb in Icelandic called móðurlíf ( motherlife) and the beautiful Icelandic word líknarbelgur that is the thin membrane that protects the fetus.
The thin membrane separates the inside from the outside. I spread a conceptual membrane over what I want to preserve.
The work Symbiosis is the result of the symbiosis of thought processes and experiences on the Melrakkaslétta.
