Ice Storm

2005

Anthony Goicolea’s Ice Storm depicts a frigid, fable-like place, an ambiguous and unsettling enchanted forest where a group of young men, seemingly knitting and some of them masked, gather in isolation. Inspired by myths, fairytales, dreams, and childhood fantasies, Goicolea’s image, part of a series called Sheltered Life, is a mysterious landscape partly constructed by the artist with the help of digital technology. Like the other images from this series, Ice Storm focuses on alternative living spaces in environments that often dwarf the inhabitants. The remains of an animal carcass, leftovers of an enigmatic, primeval scene, lie at the foot of the tree in the foreground, while brown bags of unknown content can be seen in several places. The beauty of icicles and ice-covered twigs, but also the dangers amid the rocky outcrops and ravines in these unforgiving and overwhelming surroundings, pose questions about this particular living arrangement.