It is perhaps an unconscious professional reflex for the artist that something happens, one takes notes, documents and records; knowing fully well that one might not do anything with it at all. But this occupational hazard is deep rooted, the faint idea that what one experiences might be used artistically. Even one’s deepest heartaches.

“To love is to burn, to be on fire, like Juliet or Guinevere or Eloise,” said Marianne in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. But no one survives a fire.

“Swiss Miss” is but a fragment from a bigger body of work titled Archive of Longing.

Melanie Ubaldo (b. 1992, Philippines) graduated with MA Fine Arts from the Iceland University of the Arts in 2022. Melanie has exhibited widely in Iceland and internationally. Melanie was the recipient of the Svavar Guðnasson and Ásta Eiríksdóttir fund for promising artists in Iceland in 2021. Alongside her solo practice, Melanie is a founding member of Lucky 3, a collective of Icelandic artists of Filipino origins. Lucky 3 were the recipients of the Motivational Award from the Iceland Art Prize in 2022. Her works have since been acquired by the National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik Art Museum and other institutions and in private collections.