An unforgettable odyssey to Antarctica for young artists

From the vastness of ice to the raw power of swells taller than buildings, Antarctica is a landscape that is deadly as it is beautiful.

In recognition of the centenary of Sir Ernest Shackleton's final expedition, 22 young people travelled to South Georgia - a British territory in the Antarctic region - as part of the Antarctic Heritage Trust's Inspiring Explorer's Expeditions in 2023.

Artists Charlie Thomas and Rose Lasham were both part of the group and their work, inspired by the trip, is currently on display at the New Zealand Maritime Museum, as part of the Into Ocean and Ice exhibit.

"South Georgia Island has been a dream ... the opportunity to go to South Georgia has been the top of the list for a very, very long time," Thomas told Saturday Morning.

"I had always wanted to go to Antarctica, but I actually did not know that South Georgia existed before I applied," said Lasham. "But then once I got in, I watched so many documentaries, I basically knew everything I could about South Georgia."

Thomas said many people got it confused with the southern US state.

"Oh, no, no, no. It's a bit further south than that."

At their destination they came across icebergs, elephant seals and most memorably, king penguins.

"A tiny king penguin, I think he thought I was a penguin as well because I had a white suit, so he was following me around everywhere," Lasham said.

"We actually had to stay five metres away from the wildlife at all times, so it was a bit hard having this king penguin chasing me."

When they were not being harassed by Antarctic wildlife, the pair were tasked with creating art inspired by the icy continent. The enormity of the task got to Thomas before they had even got on the ship.

"We ... sat down and thought, 'how on earth are we going to begin to put all of our thoughts and feelings and experiences on paper, on whatever it was that our medium was going to be - how could we figure this out when we hadn't even been to the island yet and we're already overcome with emotion?'

"But our goal was to try and translate what we'd experienced ... or what we were going to experience on the island into something that we could share with people and that people could experience too.

"And then upon returning from South Georgia, all of us sat down and went, 'Oh no, this is gonna be a big job.'"

Lasham said what she found most striking about South Georgia Island was "all the icebergs we saw and the glaciers we saw".

"At the same time we were over there, A76A iceberg had just come on South Georgia and broken up into fragments, so we saw quite a dramatic thing that showed that the world was changing rapidly ... so I took my inspiration from that.

"Icebergs breaking up do make sounds - so they have air bubbles inside of them, and so you can hear the crackling as their air bubbles get exposed to the current climate."

She has four paintings on display at the museum and two ceramics.

Thomas did watercolours - four of birds, and one of a ship named after a bird.

One of the birds he painted was the South Georgia pintail, "which I'm sure nobody has heard of before unless you're a crazy bird nerd like me".

"I jumped at the opportunity to be able to tell this quite special and unique conservation story ... What I really loved about these ducks is that you're in Antarctica and there's penguins and seals and stuff, and then out of nowhere there are ducks and these ducks because the vegetation on the island is so limited and the invertebrates are so limited, these ducks eat penguins - they eat penguin scraps.

"I'm chasing some ducks and ... I think, 'Oh, aren't they just delightful?' And then suddenly they start pulling off little scraps of penguin flesh off the bones."

Lasham said it was "awesome" to have her work on display.

"I've just graduated art school. Like, not many people actually give you that chance straight away, especially at the Maritime Museum. They've been so lovely and it's such a big spot to have. It's pretty special."

Thomas said the exhibition was not just about art.

""It's this wonderful amalgamation of art and education and science, which we might not have had the opportunity to opportunity to do otherwise, which is why it's been so special to do it with the New Zealand Maritime Museum - because they saw our vision of what we wanted to communicate and they took it and ran with it, and have added all these amazing little flip tiles on the wall that talk about things about Antarctica.

"It's just unbelievably special and definitely not something I thought we'd be doing at this at this age."

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