Anneli Skaar Rocknak

About the Artist

As a first-generation American born in San Francisco, I employ the language of visual arts—especially in the mediums of graphic design, painting, and illustration—to explore migration, climate change, and history. Fluent in Norwegian, I received my BA from the National Academy of Arts in Oslo, Norway and embarked on a career in illustration and design, moving to Maine in 2005. I debuted my work as a painter in 2014 with my first solo exhibition, ICEHARDSHIPBEAUTY. Since then, I have had residencies at Galleri Svalbard at 78 degrees north in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway; onboard an EIMSKIP container ship traveling from Portland, Maine, to Reykjavik, Iceland; as Maine Media Workshop’s Book Artist in Residency; and at the American Academy of Rome, among others. It was during the Maine Media residency that I published the handmade artist’s book Bears and Ruin. In 2020, my fine art press book Nansen’s Pastport, which reimagined Norwegian polar explorer and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen’s eponymous refugee passport into a climate refugee passport for humanity, was published by Two Ponds Press. Throughout my artistic career, I have produced talks, articles, and videos related to my art and travels in the Arctic regions, as a key component of my work is engaging my community and the public at large.