‘Arctic Glacier’ and ‘Ice Wall – Avanaata’ are two prints
made by Barbara Rae following her trips to the Arctic.

From 2015, Rae undertook
four voyages following the route of the fabled North West Passage. The search
for the elusive route to the east took many lives and was an obsession by
countries eager to be first to form a new trade route to eastern markets. Rae
followed the route of the English explorer John Franklin, whose futile and
ill-prepared expedition ended in the loss of all lives. Dr John Rae was sent
out to find what fate befell them, and this became the motivation for the
artist’s own travels.

“I was fascinated by this immense, desolate landscape, the
home of the Inuit, and the thought of these English seamen, completely unaware
of their chances of survival in this harsh, alien environment. These majestic
immense glaciers and icebergs in their quiet, silent world were compelling
dramatic presences which in my mind contained the history of the futile
struggle to tame the Arctic.” - Barbara Rae