the enchanted mountains
In the fall of 2023, Madeleine Aleman went on a month-long scholarship trip to Iceland. This is her report in words, but above all in pictures, from the enchanted Icelandic nature:
In retrospect, it feels like a dream. During my one month long stay in Iceland, I found myself in a different realm, spiritually. I chose to go to the east coast, to the village Stöðvarfjörður, since I got curious on the two hundred inhabitants who tried to save their village. To keep back emigration, the residents had, among other things, started the residence Fish Factory-Creative Center in an old, decommissioned fishing factory. The residence is situated majestically, right next to the fjord and with the high mountains in the background. The building contains workshops for print making, ceramics and painting. There was also a carpentry, music studio, electronics workshop and coffee roaster. I lived in a house with two other visual artists and a musician, they came from USA and Siberia.
Every morning when I looked out of my bedroom window I saw the mountains anew, then the transformation began before my eyes until the darkness fell; different weather and colors, suddenly with snow-covered peaks. I search my memory and note that I have never experienced similar nature. It would have been enough for a whole month just to experience the different days and nights down by the fjord. The color dances of the days and the magical northern lights of the nights. The color dances of the days and the magical northern lights of the nights. I carry my fascination, especially for the mountains, with me like a treasure.
Madeleine Aleman painting on a printling plate
The images in the suite The Enchanted Mountains are monotypes, a printmaking technique where each print is unique. The motifs are neither painted out in the nature nor from photos, but come from within, based on the day’s experience. I paint directly on a printing plate, put a graphic paper over it and run everything through a printing press. The result of the print leads the process on by me using the same plate for the next print without cleaning it in between. The remains of the paint on the plate, the traces of the past, inspire the next picture. The difference between this technique and painting is that I cannot control the outcome. The elements of surprise in working with monotypes arouses my anticipation and makes me feel wonder. The same feelings I had in the changing nature of Iceland's east coast during fall 2023.
Madeleine Aleman's mission is integration. Her art combines reality with fantasy, profanity with the sacred and different cultures with each other. Madeleine Aleman has studied at the University College of Arts, Craft and Design in Stockholm and is also a certified art therapist. She has exhibited throughout Sweden, but also in Spain, China and Canada.
