Wendy Jean Hyde

How deep is the distance between
America to Europe?

Silfra Cathedral is part of a submerged rift in Thingvellir, Iceland's protected national shrine. Submerging into melted and lava filtered glacier water to measure the widening crack between the American and Eurasian continents deeply communicates aspects to my current work through logical and phenomenal metaphors.

When a line intersects the horizon a cross is created. It is near the horizon line and also underwater that objects become visually refracted. The intersection of the horizon with fissures in the earth's crust can measure time yet they themselves are measured yearly because they are constantly moving.

Silfra Cathedral's geographical location is the physical outcome of a breaking apart, a meeting and a dividing of earth. The water between the walls of Silfra Cathedral is pristine and always at a constant temperature.

- Wendy Jean Hyde, 2008 SMFA Traveling Scholar Recipient

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