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Embers Beneath The Ice - Deception Island 2026
by Laura Longhurst
Oils (Textured Art )
|
h 60 x w 80 x d 2 cm h 23.6 x w 31.5 x d 0.8 in |
£1650.00
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Description
Deception Island, Antarctica
Original Mixed-Media Oil on Canvas
Created exclusively for the Beauty Out of the Ashes exhibition in Mayfair, London, Embers Beneath the Ice explores the meeting point between destruction, memory and renewal.
Deception Island
Inspired by the extraordinary landscape and history of Deception Island in Antarctica, Embers Beneath the Ice explores the meeting point between destruction, memory and renewal.
Once a centre of the Antarctic whaling industry, Deception Island's sheltered volcanic harbour became a place of intense human activity. Processing stations, machinery and the remnants of an industry built around immense loss once occupied its shores. Today, traces of that history remain within the landscape, including the imposing remains of the whaling stations and the great boiling copper vats once used in the processing of whale oil.
Volcanic eruptions have subsequently buried, damaged and reshaped parts of the former settlement, while wind, ice and time continue to transform the landscape. Yet the evidence of what came before has not disappeared completely. Human history and the forces of nature remain intertwined across the island.
It is this extraordinary coexistence — between fire and ice, human industry and the immense forces of nature, destruction and what survives — that lies at the heart of Embers Beneath the Ice.
The island's volcanic history also became part of the physical making of the work. Volcanic ash is incorporated into the painting alongside vintage 24ct gold leaf, gold oil and a gold acrylic foundation, creating layers of darkness, warmth, texture and light.
The gold emerges through the darker volcanic surface, suggesting fragments of memory beneath the landscape — traces of what has been lost, but also the possibility of renewal.