Talk Radio Paradise

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What do you personally love about Alice and the books?



I love the grand scale and nature themes in the books, and the weird and wonderful journey you get taken on as a reader. The books are dark in places, and this play on light and shade, allows you to take stock from a distance. Lewis Carroll was said to suffer from Migraine Aura, which caused him to see things not at their actual size, so for him there was no right ‘scale’. Many norms are therefore inverted.

Is there anything about Icelandic culture that has had an influence on your work for the book?

Growing up in Iceland, you have nature and storytelling in your bones. That really is how the Icelandic people survived the long harsh winters, a time when nature is in charge.

I have lived half of my life in Iceland, and the other half in London, so that gives me an interesting perspective. Although I have been away from Iceland for so long now, it still continues to influence me. I have memories of the black sandy beaches and the frozen ocean – which now feel mystical to me. Not being there for the other half of my adult life, has kept the magic of Iceland alive.

Alice and Iceland are actually closely connected in my mind. I feel that they go hand-in-hand quite naturally. For instance, the landscape there is quite majestic and other-worldly – you can bathe in heated waters with the tectonic plates under your feet or lie in moss grown high over many years. There are iridescent clouds above you in the summer and the spectacular northern lights in the winter.

What is your favourite passage from Alice in Wonderland?

I love so many parts of the book, but I really keep going back to her falling slowly through the rabbit hole. I love the thought of falling slowly. It brings to mind that feeling when you are having a lucid dream, and you have the actual sensation of falling. Or, when you are on a rollercoaster and you have that moment when you are suspended in air.

My favourite line is: “It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.”

Did the theme of ‘travel’ play a part in your designs?

Travel is always on my mind! I’ve permanently in one harbour or another –metaphorically! The ‘Alice’ book is very free and dream-like – and when you travel, freedom is at your disposal, it is a time when you can dream the most.

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