Digitally Rewilding The Westfjords

With 'Digitally Rewilding the Westfjords' I explore the concept of creating an immersive 3D environment to reimagine the landscape and decolonize the vegetation.

In July 2023, I arrived in Ísafjörður, Iceland to take part in an artist residency. Initially I wanted to make a 'virtual land artwork' in the same vein as Robert Smithson, but had a realisation during the drive there. There was an abundance of purple lupine flowers stretching alongside the roads. These flowers are famous in Iceland but when I reached Ísafjörður the locals explained they were not native; they had been brought to Iceland in 1945 in an attempt to prevent topsoil erosion. Over a century of cutting trees had taken its toll. The flowers' rapid spread, coupled with global warming has become of extreme concern to Icelanders.

After returning home, the Maui wildfires broke out, a tragedy resulting in over 115 deaths. Global warming was the main culprit, but scientists also attributed it to non-native grasses on the island. These highly flammable grasses were left to grow unchecked. This catastrophe struck me as a call to arms. Something could be done with immersive environments that could create awareness of what is happening to our environment.