See ‘A Journey of Iceland — From Darkness to Light’ at the Dublin Arts Council

Iceland draws visitors to explore its majesty and natural beauty, and it’s this aspect of the northern European country that was appealing to Erin Boggs. What took her from Columbus to Reykjavik, Iceland, initially was a concert, but the trip would eventually turn into the inspiration for her latest creative collaboration. 

“I had some expectations just from what you learn and hear about Iceland, but that didn’t even cover the things that I didn’t anticipate seeing and experiencing,” says Boggs, a Columbus-based writer and poet. “The warmth of the culture and the Icelandic people was not something I was expecting. Everybody I met has just been wonderful.”

When planning her visit, Boggs was also hoping to see works on display from Einar Örn, an Icelandic artist whose work she has admired for years. Prior to her first visit to Reykjavik, she messaged him to see if his art would be on display in the timeframe of her trip. Örn had a gallery showing, so Boggs met him, explored the gallery and even bought a few pieces for herself. From there, a partnership was born. 

Meeting Örn was not the only influential part of Boggs’ first trip to Iceland. She was also introduced to Örn’s son, Kaktus Einarsson, an Icelandic musician. Boggs loves to travel, and on all her trips, she brings a journal so that she can capture her thoughts and feelings during her time abroad.

“I found that I was getting very inspired, and so I started writing before I even left,” Boggs says. “When I got home, it just wasn’t going away; it wasn’t just a getting caught in the moment of being there. And so, I came up with the idea of this project and reached out to Einar again and asked if he wanted to collaborate and he said yes.”

That collaboration resulted in an art exhibit titled “A Journey to Iceland — From Darkness to Light,” which premiered in Reykjavik, Iceland, in November 2024. Now, this immersive exhibit has been brought close to Boggs’ Ohio home and will be on display at the Dublin Arts Council starting March 8.

The immersive feeling of the exhibit —  a collaboration between Boggs, Örn and Einarsson — comes from three elements: visual art, poetry and music. Using inspiration from the poems that Boggs wrote about her travels, Örn created charcoal drawings that captured their essence. The visual works are all tied together by a soundscape of music crafted by Einarsson.

“It’s a conversation between me and my experiences of Iceland,” Boggs says. “So, someone from a foreigner’s perspective witnessing Iceland from a very new perspective. Einar is responding to what I’m writing about through his art and he’s responding as a local, as an Icelander. Then Kaktus with his music; he is setting the tone and the pace of the conversation.”

The exhibit is broken into four different chapters — modeled after the chapters of the book authored by Boggs and Örn — and move from darker tones into lighter works and music, as the name of the show implies.

The first chapter is titled “Unseen,” followed by “Weather,” both of which exemplify the moodier parts of the exhibit. As things begin to lighten, guests experience the theme of “Landscape” before finishing off the exhibit in a space devoted to “Culture,” which is the lightest and warmest section of the exhibit. 

Those looking to relive the exhibit after it finishes its run at the Dublin Arts Council on April 30 can find the inspiration for the exhibits and works that pair Örn’s pieces with Boggs’ poems in the book A Journey to Iceland — From Darkness to Light. Readers can also scan the QR code on the book and be taken to a playlist of Einarsson’s music to fully re-immerse themselves in the experience.

“I think there are two people that are going to be there,” Boggs says. “There are going to be those that have always wanted to go to Iceland and are curious about Iceland … and I think there are going to be those who have been to Iceland and like me, love it; I hope that they come and they see or read something that resonates.”

For more information about the Dublin Arts Council, visit dublinarts.org. To learn more about Erin Boggs and her collaborators, visit erinboggs.art.

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