Colleen Kelsey has showcased her artwork both nationally and internationally, participating in group exhibitions at the Carnegie Mellon Museum of Art and the Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center. Pursing her studies she earned an MFA in painting at American University and an M.Ed. at Wright State University.

Colleen has received the support of individual artist grants and attended the following artist residencies: NES Residency in Skagastrond, Iceland, Four Pillars in Mount Gretna, PA, and A.I.R. in Paducah, KY.  Every day studio practice is in Dayton, Ohio, in the United States.  You can learn more at https://www.instagram.com/colleen_kelsey/

Christine Dreher is a visual artist from Germany, based in Berlin.

In her paintings, she explores processes of form creation and form dissolution. Through gestural, flat, translucent or opaque applications of paint or also involving washouts she creates relationships between different layers of color. These stratifications generate spatial depth and point to the process of interaction in which the concept of linear time is suspended. Her panels capture snapshots of this ongoing process.

Tectonic and geomorphological phenomena and movements within the landscape serve as sources of inspiration for her. On a metaphorical level as well, her images are a negotiation with processes of form-creation and with the forces that act to bring something into appearance. Last but not least, the artist makes use of fleeting physiological afterimages that appear on retina with closed eyes or just before falling asleep at the end of the day to further develop her work.

More works by the artist can be found at: https://www.christinedreher.de/

Meg Matich is a poet and translator of many books from Icelandic, German, and Danish in Reykjavik, Iceland. Her translations have received praise from The New York Times, Oprah, Publisher’s Weekly, Vulture, and others. She’s received support for her work from PEN America, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Fulbright Commission. Her most recent work, the selected short stories of mid-century modernist-feminist Ásta Sigurðardóttir, was published by Nordisk Books in November 2023 and her translation of two collections of short stories by Svava Jakobsdóttir is forthcoming from Open Letter/Deep Vellum in late 2025. She’s currently at work on an anthology of poetry by Sjón, edited with the author, with funding from the NEA. She is the author of one chapbook, Cold (Eulalia Books 2022) and one in-progress novel-in-verse, Sealskin.

Her website is www.meglenska.is

Karl Ágúst Úlfsson is an Icelandic theatre artist. He’s had a 45 year career in theatre, television, radio and films as an actor, writer, director and translator. In NES he’s working on his 13th theatre musical based on Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar, connecting the main character with modern times and different moral attitudes.  You can see more at https://www.facebook.com/karl.ulfsson

Alix Perrin is a French visual artist whose practice is rooted in the exploration of the subtle interactions between nature, memory, and the photographic process. Through a series of alternative techniques, primarily anthotype, cyanotype, and monotype, she captures the traces left by the plant world, transforming each plant she encounters into a silent witness of the environment. By using light and plant-derived pigments, Alix creates images that reveal the fragility and beauty of natural elements while emphasizing their connection to time and memory.

Her projects, often rooted in artist residencies and site-specific interventions, resonate with a profound reflection on the transformation of matter and history. In her work, the landscape becomes a space of resonance, where each imprint, each photograph, is a poetic response to the traces left by both humans and nature itself.

In addition to her international exhibitions, such as those at the Rencontres Photographiques in Arles and the Promenades Photographiques in Blois, Alix Perrin has been awarded several prizes, including the Prix Clim’art 2024 and the Prix Mark Grosset-SAIF 2023. Her work invites meditation on the fragility of our environment and the way in which art can make invisible stories visible—stories often forgotten in the folds of time. You can see more of Alix‘s work at https://alixperrinphoto.wordpress.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/alix_perrin_photo/

2017, I spent two months on a scholarship in Seyðisfjörður, in eastern Iceland. I was fascinated by the landscape and weather in general—and in particular, by the way climatic and geological phenomena, along with the region’s topography, unexpectedly shifted my personal perspective. This led to a subtly altered perception of time—one I had never questioned before.

For instance, I had always assumed that stones are ancient and rocks unchanging. But discovering that some of the rocks in Iceland are actually younger than I am shook the foundations of my everyday worldview—much like the ground I was walking on. Of course, I knew in theory that volcanic activity creates new rock, but I hadn’t anticipated how deeply the direct experience of Iceland’s unique landscape would affect me. I am determined to further explore and expand on this experience during my time in Skagaströnd. You can view more of Uta’s work at https://utapuetz.blogspot.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/uta___puetz/

Alaskan Nancy Lord is an environmental writer, these days mostly of personal essays. Here in Iceland she’s interested in comparisons and contrasts with Alaska. As a former commercial fisherperson, she’s paying particular attention to Skagastrond’s fishing history along with its present industry. She took advantage of being here for research at the Herring Era Museum in Siglufjordur. Back home, she is also a book reviewer, a part-time graduate-level science writing teacher, and a climate and public lands activist. You can find more about her and her books and other writings at www.writernancylord.com.