Arctic Circle Residency

In July 2025, I journeyed to the edge of the world as a participant in the Arctic Circle Residency—an expedition that brings together international artists, scientists, architects, and educators to explore the Svalbard Archipelago and the Arctic Ocean aboard a three-masted schooner.

For two weeks, our floating community engaged in fieldwork, collaboration, and reflection on climate, culture, and creativity in one of the planet’s most fragile and awe-inspiring landscapes.

For me, the residency was about returning to the roots of knotting. Most knots originate from maritime culture, and living aboard a tall ship offered the rare chance to immerse myself in that history at its source. It was the fulfillment of a long-held dream—working with rope on a proper sailing vessel in Arctic waters.

The experience was nothing short of life-changing. We sailed north of the 80th parallel, moored our ship to the ice floe, and stepped out onto a frozen expanse with no land between us and the North Pole. Surrounded by icebergs and infinite sky, I knotted a net on the sea ice itself. The ice cracked beneath us, a polar bear appeared on the horizon, and I felt both the fragility and the vastness of this environment.

The Arctic Circle Residency expanded my practice in ways I am still processing—reminding me that rope, like the sea, is both ancient and alive, always carrying with it the story of human navigation, survival, and wonder.

hold (2025)

Hand-knotted rope, performance, Arctic ice field, Rembrandt van Rijn bowsprit.

Created during the Arctic Circle Residency. Crafted by Windy Chien aboard the tall ship Rembrandt van Rijn, hold is a rope structure suspended from a single point on the bowsprit, moving only in response to the wind, sea, and ship: forces beyond human control. Performed against a calving glacier and drifting ice, the work invites a dialogue between surrender and action. Artist Carmen entered the net unclothed, engaging it as both support and constraint, in collaboration not just with the artist, but with the Arctic itself. The structure becomes a vessel for trust, transforming utility into intimacy, and containment into a space of choice between being held and holding on.

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