FILM: Peak Water (2021)

Once proud sentinels of the enduring bond between earth and sky, glaciers across the world have come to exist as monuments to a shifting narrative. Under the continued influence of greenhouse-gas forced global warming, ice that took centuries to develop is vanishing in just a number of years. A fate experts predict for at least two-thirds of all glaciers by the end of this century. Since 1994 the Rhône Glacier has been in constant retreat exposing a granite bedrock and creating a proglacial lake in 2005.  “My grandfather spent his life in these mountains. Now I see them retreat. Two generations, and yet a lifetime of change.” In 2021 Emery recorded the Rhône Glacier’s terminus. The once-steady flow of ice, today gives way to a cascading stream of meltwater reshaping the surrounding landscape and ecosystems. One of the most studied glaciers globally with records dating back to the 17th century the Rhône Glacier serves as a case study illuminating the intricacies of climate change’s impact on glacial landscapes.”The elemental particles composing our very being once danced amidst these ancient landscapes, and if they disappear, part of us does too.” – Lena C. Emery

Part of a larger body of work incorporating photographs and sculptural elements, first exhibited at Frieze No. 9 Cork St Gallery, London, 2024.