“The sublimely beautiful landscape and light provided the most challenging and rewarding painting circumstances I have ever experienced”[1]
These words by the artist Georgia Rose Murray capture the contrast at the heart of Arctic Sunrise, an extraordinary concertina book featuring a five-metre-long panorama of Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard.[2] Created during an artist’s residency in the Arctic, the work documents not only the remote landscape but also the challenges of capturing its changing light in extreme temperatures.
Located in the Svalbard archipelago, between mainland Norway and the North Pole, Ny-Ålesund provided the setting for Murray’s experimental approach to painting. The artwork is currently featured in Gallery One of the Pathfoot Building as part of this year’s exhibition, themed around “Topography.”
In 2020, Murray was invited to be a guest researcher and artist in residence at Czech station, where she created her painting over the course of a day and a night. Working in temperatures of approximately -30°C, Murray was challenged to be creative with her resources. As her brush froze and water became difficult to use, she was forced to adapt her materials and approach to painting. The process then became an experiment in both artistic creativity and scientific discovery.
To overcome these challenges, Murray experimented with combining 97% scientific ethanol with pigment, ink and watercolour paint [3] allowing her to replace water with an alternative that remained liquid for longer in the freezing conditions. Her ability to adapt demonstrates how the surrounding environment actively influenced the artistic process, rather than simply the subject of the painting.
The use of a concertina book also allowed her to paint in smaller fragments throughout the day. Each hour Murray would paint the same landscape – the light colours gradually darkening as the position of the sun alters throughout the day.
Murray’s work seeks to communicate the experience of remote landscapes to audiences who may never encounter them in person. She explains:
“The work I create aims to provides windows through which viewers can transcend and connect to remote wild places, which are rarely experienced by humans. The stripped back, poignant beauty of Arctic landscapes can be challenging to imagine, so it’s important to try and share what it’s like on multiple levels.”[4]
When confronting this art piece, I was at first intrigued by Murray’s choice in format. Was the concertina book an aesthetic decision, or was there a more practical reason behind her choice? As I continued researching the artwork, I discovered how carefully considered and inventive her approach was. The format allowed her to adapt to the extreme conditions while documenting her personal experience of the landscape.
I was also fascinated by the contrast of colours as my eyes travelled across the painting. Learning more about Murray’s process made the artwork even more fascinating as I began to understand that these colours were not simply an aesthetic choice, but a reflection of her experience in the Arctic and the changing light throughout the day.
In the end, I came to appreciate how Murray adapted her artistic processes to the extreme weather conditions while also capturing the beauty of the landscape. By combining experimentation, observation and artistic expression, Murray transforms the challenges of painting in the Arctic into an opportunity to capture the landscape in a unique and personal way.
We thank student Kennidi-Lee Geoghegan who has recently been volunteering with the Art Collection for contributing this piece for the blog.
References
[1] Aesthetica, “Interview with British artist Georgia Rose Murray,” accessed September 29, 2026 https://aestheticamagazine.com/interview-with-british-artist-georgia-rose-murrary/
[2] https://www.royalscottishacademy.org/publications/160-arctic-sunrise-georgia-rose-murray/
[3] https://www.unseensketchbooks.co.uk/2024/09/14/georgia-rose-murray-arctic-sketchbooks/
[4] Unseen Sketchbooks, “Interview with Georgia Rose Murray on her Artic sketchbooks,” accessed Septmber 29, 2026. https://www.unseensketchbooks.co.uk/2024/09/14/georgia-rose-murray-arctic-sketchbooks/
