From Puerto Rico to Svalbard: Nicole Cecilia Delgado and Amanda Hernández arrive at Artica

Artica Svalbard is delighted to welcome printmakers and poets Nicole Cecilia Delgado and Amanda Hernández as artists in residence for June and July 2025. Nominated by The Queen Sonja Print Award, the two artists will spend the summer developing new work that draws connections between island ecologies in the Caribbean and the Arctic.

Based in Puerto Rico, Delgado and Hernández are the founders of La Impresora, an independent, artist-led print studio focused on Risograph printing, writing, and traditional publishing methods. Their work combines poetry, printmaking, and book arts with a focus on identity, place, and environmental interconnection—often approached through ecofeminist and land-based perspectives.

During their residency, Delgado and Hernández will each pursue individual poetry projects while experimenting with analog printing processes that expand their current practice. They also plan to share their work locally by hosting a bilingual poetry reading and a series of workshops in Longyearbyen.

Delgado’s recent projects include Periodo especial, a poetry collection addressing the fiscal crisis in Puerto Rico, and A mano / By Hand, an autobiographical essay about independent publishing. Hernández’s poetry has been widely self-published, with her first English-language book, Yellow Struck, released in 2023. Both artists have participated in international residencies and festivals and are actively involved in literary and publishing networks across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Their residency in Svalbard offers a space for reflection and dialogue between contrasting but equally fragile environments, inviting new perspectives on language, landscape, and cultural expression.