Following the lichens of Ålvik, exploring symbiotic mineral cycles and polluted grounds
During my residency in Ålvik, Norway, I developed an artistic research project guided by local lichen species. Immersed in an unfamiliar ecosystem, I encountered forms of lichen I had not studied before, expanding both my ecological understanding and artistic approach. Tracing their presence across the landscape revealed a deep interconnectedness between my own body and these slow-growing organisms.
Symbionts
2025
70 jaar SBK, kunstuitleen, Amsterdam
Work available to rent: contact kunstuitleen SBK
Lichens act as mediators between the geological and the biological, transforming minerals into life-sustaining elements while gradually shaping soil and ecosystems over deep time. By attuning to them over three months, I began to understand life as something emerging through slow, shared cycles rather than isolated existence.
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As part of this exploration, I introduced my own blood to the lichens, questioning whether they would absorb the iron from my body and thus fold me into their mineral processes. This gesture reflects the porous boundaries between human and more-than-human worlds, where matter continuously circulates between bodies.
Lichens also absorb heavy metals, pollutants, and airborne chemicals, storing within themselves traces of both vitality and harm. In doing so, they render visible the otherwise imperceptible accumulation of slow environmental violence, inviting a deeper awareness of our entanglement with the environments we inhabit.
Lecidea lapicida (stonecutter lichen)
One month after the blood application, the lichen shows visible signs consistent with iron absorption.
The project was made possible thanks to Kunstnarhuset Messen, Kunsthuset Kabuso,
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