A Warm Welcome in the Land of Wool & Ice: Niki Chandler

In September 2023, Niki Chandler, undertook a road trip around Iceland, meeting up with fellow Prism member, Anna Gunnersdottir in Reykjavik.

I have long desired to visit the island of Iceland after reading what has to be my all-time favorite book, Independent People by Halldor Laxness. It is an insightful novel, if a somewhat grim read, on the resilience of the people of Iceland to succeed.

Before leaving Cambridge I contacted our Icelandic member, Anna Gunnersdottir, and after a flurry of emails we managed to make an arrangement to meet up during our fleeting stay in Reykjavik, before we headed off on a two week ring road trip.I instantly warmed to Anna and by the end of our short meet up I felt I had known her for years not just a couple of hours.

After quick introductions and some gems of local insider knowledge on the highlights of her homeland that we should not miss on our travels, we headed just out of the city to Seltjarnarnes to visit her new studio space.  Light and airy, it was both work space and white walled gallery. Her sensitive hand dyed silk and finely felted sculptural artworks graced both walls and plinths. She currently shares the space with her youngest daughter, fashion designer, Anita Hirlekar (www.anita-hirlekar.com)

We chatted on effortlessly, discussing the 2024 Prism exhibition title, Edgelands, and what the title could allude to. She also explained that she has been working on a large commission, making felted 3D scenic elements and costumes for a new theatre production. It all sounds very exciting so I hope Anna will share pictures with the members once the production has opened on stage.

Anna then made us welcome in her own home, which is situated in a breathtaking location over looking the sea and back towards Reykjavik. We were treated to some Smoked Trout from a farm near her birthplace of Akureyri in the north, almost at the edge of the Artic Circle. It was to be the culinary highlight of the trip.

Dropping us back to our hotel we said warm farewells, Anna inviting us to return for a meal before leaving Iceland. Sadly due to a last minute change of accommodation this didn’t happen so hopefully we shall catch up at the Art Pavilion next Spring when the exhibition opens.

Iceland was everything I hoped for and more. The scenery was majestic in its severity and scale. There were times we drove for miles without seeing another vehicle, human, animal or tree. I was impressed with the respect shown for the land and its resources. The lack of human encroachment into these wild places was heartening though the beauty of the glaciers was marred by their evident and significant reduction.

What was also notable was the readily available supply in the supermarkets of knitting wool. Sheep have had the right to roam freely on the island since 874A.D. Knitting is part of the modern national  identity of Iceland. In 2008 after the global financial crash, Iceland was nearly bankrupt. The government called out to its people to take up knitting to support themselves and this is much in evidence.  In a small village, we ventured in to a tiny craft store that was full of exquisitely knitted and handcrafted items made by a collective of 62 makers. It was just such a pity that everything was so eye-wateringly expensive for our UK pound.

Despite the disappointment at not meeting Anna and her husband again, the change of hotel meant we were near the working studio and home of natural dyer, Gudrun Bjarnadottir (www.hespa.is)

Gudrun welcomed us in from the wind and mizzle with coffee and cake to share and experience her traditional dyeing practice. Several pots of dye baths were simmering or steeping on hotplates made largely from local plants, including lupins, which grow in abundance. All the wool is first treated with an alum mordant, she uses no other, as she finds this gives the strongest and most stable range of colours. The walls were testament to her skills with cube shelving full of vibrant skeins of various weight yarn. A group of American ladies, from a cruise ship tour, were busy learning the traditional lopapeysa ( lopi=wool/peysa=jumper) sweater pattern so popular in Scandi Noir drama series.

Now back in Cambridge I am reflecting on my visual memories of this other worldly place, it is  no wonder they came to Iceland to practice for the first moon landings; the endless blackness of the pebble beaches, the acres of lava fields and volcanic ash, the darkness all setting the autumn  colours aglow. Traversing the edge of this land was a truly inspiring experience.