Esther Kokmeijer

What’s the work that you do?

In my work as an artist and explorer I mainly focus on the interaction between human and their natural environment, finding expression in installations, interventions, photo series, documentaries and publications, among others. Most of my projects are based around the ‘Global Commons’, the globally shared, but not owned spaces and sites; the high oceans, the atmosphere, outer space and Antarctica.

For over 10 years I seasonally worked as an expedition photographer and polar guide, in the Arctic and Antarctic. I’m the founder of Antarktikos, a printed journal that is solely dedicated to Antarctica and brings together art and science.

What keeps you going?

My artistic journeys are driven by a quest for the deep history of the Earth. Geographic strata serve as diaries and are archived in nature as well as in the mind. Geography literally means ‘to describe the Earth’, in my work I try to depict her in a poetic way to render the invisible visible.

Recurring motifs and questions in my work are; What are humanity’s effects on geological and biological processes? What can we learn from indigenous knowledge systems, can it deepen or induce a more sustainable relationship to our natural environment, and will it bring more solidarity with the landscape?

What’s your message to the world?

Sonnet For an Iceberg

Enclosed by the sea and sky
Embraced by the waves
Endless blueish caves
From perishable mineral in nigh

Too deep to profound
Too mysterious to convey
Grounded in the bay
Melting and balancing to be bound

Alone together with you
My inner landscape to enquire
Staring into your deep blue

Between my thoughts to acquire
Your sensual lines into
Set my soul on fire

(Esther Kokmeijer 2025)