Walking in Antarctica

The exhibition combines dramatic photographic prints with sculptures generated from photographs of ice and rock formations via 3D scanning technology, fabricated on 3D printers and CNC routers, then hand-painted with nuanced tones and brushwork, and also incorporates an audio tour accessed by visitors on their mobile phones.

The images surprise visitors with vivid depictions of richly articulated and colorful environments that counter the common perception of a bleak, white wasteland. The sculptures offer an opportunity to experience the unique polar ice and rock formations from different vantage points as objects in space and are the first — and thus far only — such sculptural works of the Antarctic landscape.

For the last two months of 2015, Glazer worked out of remote Antarctic scientific field camps and had access to protected areas that can only be entered with government permits or in the company of a skilled mountaineer. Insights from Glazer’s research and interactions with scientists enhanced her experience of nature during her residency. Her particular photographic vision, innovative application of emerging 3D technologies, and storytelling skills have enabled her to capture and communicate experiences of remote places that few people get to witness in person.

Glazer has organized her material as a series of “walks” through remarkable Antarctic landscapes: over frozen lakes, around towering glaciers and baroque sea ice formations, into a magnificent frozen ice cave, across fields of surreal-looking boulders, and through a lively colony of nesting Adélie penguins. The images range from sweeping landscapes to close ups of small scale features.

Walking in Antarctica premiered at the Rosenberg Gallery, Goucher College, Baltimore, Maryland, in 2017 and is touring museums, art galleries, and libraries as a traveling exhibition under the auspices of ExhibitsUSA, the exhibition rental service of the Mid-America Arts Alliance, from 2022 to 2027. Past and confirmed future bookings include the Altharetta Yeargin Art Museum, Houston, TX (2022); Temecula Valley Museum, Temecula, CA, and San Jacinto College South Gallery, Houston, TX, (2023); Fairfield University Art Museum, Fairfield, CT and Juliet Art Museum, Charleston, WV (2024); and Roger Tory Peterson Institute, Jamestown, NY (2024-25). To book the exhibition see https://eusa.org/exhibition/walking-in-antarctica/