Emma Arnold, PhD (b. Montréal, Canada) is an interdisciplinary artist, researcher, and writer working at the intersection of art and environment. She leads the Institute for Art & Environment, an independent research platform conducting projects with environmental, social, and urban themes. She blends academic research with artistic practice and is concerned with how environmental crisis can be understood through art. Her current research focuses on contemporary art and extractivism in industrial and post-industrial landscapes.

Emma’s work centres on photography as an immersive and investigative tool for place- and sense-making. Inspired by the setting of Velferden and the presence of tailings and landfill sites, Emma will use the residency in the winter of 2025 to research, write, and create in a place deeply affected by mining activities. Emma plans to explore the otherworldly landscape of Sokndal through image-making, publish an article drawing on this research, and develop a series of photographs, illustrations, and prints that reflect the area’s unique geology and history.