Artist Statement;
In Iceland from Above, Dede Pickering transforms the Icelandic landscape into a study of shape, rhythm, color, and abstraction. Seen from the air, familiar elements of the natural world are stripped of scale and context, becoming something almost otherworldly. Rivers become lines, glacial meltwater forms intricate networks, volcanic terrain becomes fields of texture, and the meeting of land and water creates compositions that resemble paintings rather than traditional landscapes.
The series grew from Pickering’s fascination with the way aerial photography can alter perception. From the ground, Iceland is experienced as an immense and dramatic environment. From above, that same landscape becomes unexpectedly intimate and graphic. Distance eliminates the usual visual cues of horizon, scale, and perspective, allowing shapes and patterns to take precedence. What might appear to be a river, shoreline, or volcanic formation at first glance can become an abstract composition on closer inspection.
Working from a helicopter, often with the doors removed, Pickering photographs directly downward into the landscape, responding instinctively to the fleeting arrangements below her. Light, weather, water, and movement are constantly changing the scene, making each image a moment that cannot be precisely replicated. The elevated viewpoint allows her to discover compositions that exist only from the air, where the forces of nature reveal themselves through repetition, contrast, erosion, and movement.
Water is a recurring presence throughout the series. Glacial rivers carve delicate paths through dark volcanic earth, branching and reconnecting like veins. Their shifting channels create an organic geometry that contrasts with the stark textures and colors of the surrounding terrain. Elsewhere, ice, sand, rock, and vegetation form layered fields of muted and unexpected color. These natural elements become less about geography and more about visual language.
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