Sandra Setzkorn

Sandra Setzkorn is a multi-disciplinary artist and musician from Germany. She studied at Goldsmiths College in London, UK and is living on Svalbard since 2022. It all started with an artist residency where she fell in love with the harsh landscape and the old ice. 

Since then she has been guiding in the Arctic and Antarctic, has been working as Polarcirkel driver on Svalbard and showing guests the wildlife and amazing landscapes. 

These experiences feed directly into her work: each etching is produced on Svalbard as a unique piece—handprinted and hand-coloured in a limited edition—inspired by everyday life and moments of adventure in ever-changing light and weather.

"Combining painting, photography, performance and object, my interdisciplinary practice reflects our focus on human gender, role and nature and their representations in the context of historical phenomena and their impact on prevailing societal concepts. I encode the conditions surrounding me in my visual language and thus create a new fictional world. My body is the “glue”, I use it as my most available object/subject, use masks, costumes, objects. With my work I want to counteract various stereotypes – grotesque, humorous – and encourage alternatives to fixed images, rethinking and feelings.

My work is currently dealing with the Arctic."