HULDA RÓS GUÐNADÓTTIR

Series of five archival pigment prints on fine art paper mounted on aluminum Dibond, each 80 x 120 cm (2022).

The series SILICA 01 - 05 was created as part of the first iteration of the ongoing S-I-L-I-C-A research project, in which the artist investigates the global industrial processes behind silicon production.

The project traces the production chain of silicon used in industrial high-tech manufacturing, including semiconductors and solar cells. The sculptures are made from metallurgical silicon produced at a smelter in northern Iceland, owned by a German industrial company with historical roots in the Ruhr region.

Earliest iteration of the series of print appeared as temporary billboards in the 20th anniversary exhibition Ocean Dwellers at the Nordic Embassies in Berlin, curated by Solvej Helweg Ovesen that opened in December 2019. The series as the current prints were exhibited for the first time in 2022 as part of , S-I-L-I-C-A-0-1, at Scharaun, Berlin, curated by Jaro Straub, with text by Erin Honeycutt. The prints were shown again in 2025 as part of the installation S-I-L-I-C-A-0-2 at Gallery Gudmundsdottir in Berlin during Berlin Gallery Weekend and at the SPARK Art Fair, also as part of a solo exhibition in mixed-media.

In 2025 the SILICA 01 -05 prints appeared as part of a solo exhibition on the photography as a research tool and artistic medium curated by Becky Forsythe at Galleri Grotta in Reykjavik (Seltjarnarnes), Iceland. As part of the exhibition, titled LJÓS [MYND] LIST, they were shown as an instance of photography as a research tool while WERK (2021), a series of five archival pigment prints on fine art paper mounted on aluminum Dibond in various dimensions, was shown as an instance of photography as use of photography as an end point in artistic reseach.

The earliest iteration of the print series appeared as temporary billboards in the 20th-anniversary exhibition Ocean Dwellers at the Nordic Embassies in Berlin, curated by Solvej Helweg Ovesen and opened in December 2019.

The series was first exhibited in its current print format in 2022 as part of S-I-L-I-C-A-0-1 at Scharaun, Berlin, curated by Jaro Straub, with a text by Erin Honeycutt. The prints were shown again in 2025 as part of the installation S-I-L-I-C-A-0-2 at Gallery Gudmundsdottir in Berlin during Gallery Weekend Berlin, and at the SPARK Art Fair, in Vienna, also as part of a mixed-media solo presentation.

Later in 2025, the SILICA 01–05 prints appeared in a solo exhibition examining photography as both a research tool and an artistic medium within the artist’s oeuvre, curated by Becky Forsythe at Gallerí Grótta in Seltjarnarnes, Iceland. In the exhibition, titled Ljós [mynd] list the SILICA 01–05 series was presented as an instance of photography used as a research tool, while WERK (2021), a series of five archival pigment prints on fine art paper mounted on aluminum Dibond in various dimensions, was presented as an example of photography as an endpoint of artistic research. WERK belongs to the Keep Frozen research project.