'Olafur Eliasson has photographed his native Icelandic landscape. Arranged in grid-like configurations, the images record geographical formations that are characteristic of the terrain. Each series focuses on a single aspect of the land–ice, islands, or caves. Within these groups, individual photographs document specific places at particular moments. But when viewed together, the works describe broader themes. Nature is shown in a process of constant change. Shifting patterns of light, shape, and color emerge when pictures hang side-by-side, and the specifics of a single image give way to an overall subtlety and abstraction. Eliasson's task is not simply to document the details of nature but to foster a more complete visual experience that transcends the subject.

[For this series] Eliasson returned to Iceland to begin a series on caves. For fourteen days he repeatedly descended into the earth's narrow passageways. Being surrounded by the earth became an almost natural state for the artist, who learned to adapt to extreme isolation.'

('Olafur Eliasson: The ice series', Museum of Modern Art, web, 1998)