Pakijs ten noordwesten van Spitsbergen before 1913

This photograph of pack ice northwest of Spitsbergen, captured by Wilse, is like a study in monochrome mark-making. I like how the limited palette really throws the shapes and textures into high relief; it feels almost sculptural. There's a certain rawness to the image, a directness in the way the ice formations are presented. It's not about pretty scenery; it's about the material reality of this landscape, the cracks and fissures in the ice that tell a story of constant movement and change. That dark crevice snaking down the centre, looks like the beginnings of an idea, a doodle in three-dimensional space. I'm reminded of Gerhard Richter's abstract paintings, the way he builds up layers of paint and then scrapes them away, revealing the history of the image underneath. Both artists seem to be exploring the possibilities of their medium. Ultimately, this piece speaks to the ongoing dialogue between art and nature, and the ways in which artists can transform the world around us into something new and meaningful.