Welcome back Kirsty Banks!

Kirsty is a Visual Artist living and working in Cornwall, UK.

Her work explores the Arctic landscape, focusing on  the sea ice and its loss around the Svalbard Archipelago. She incorporates maps and printmaking into her textiles pieces, layering them with photography and stitch to create textured compositions that reflect the fragility of these environments.

Works such as -1.8°c focus on the temperature at which seawater freezes, symbolizing the loss of sea ice as the world warms. Her practice also involves video installations at home in Cornwall, capturing the shifting light on the ocean and drawing parallels between Arctic and coastal landscapes.

This is Kirsty's 3rd stay at the Spitsbergen Artist Centre  and her 5th visit to Svalbard, further deepening her exploration of this beautiful, ever changing and remote region.