The Snow Drawings of Sonja Hinrichsen

Winter doesn’t necessarily have to be an uninspiring, gloomy time of the year. With the right state of mind, you can turn a wintery landscape into a piece of art. Take, for instance, Sonja Hinrichsen’s snow drawings. Created on vast snowy landscapes, they’re compiled of tens of thousands of footprints that add up to create complex patterns.

According to Hinrichsen, modern society has become increasingly disconnected from nature, and so, her art is there to inspire the reconnection. “My work reflects on environmental concerns and addresses our (humankind’s) relationship to the natural world – as we perceive it and interact with it,” she writes on her website. “To secure a ‘habitat’ for future generations (of our own species as well as others) it is essential that we tune ourselves in with nature and re-gain greater awareness of our planet, understand it better and take better stewardship of it.”

Engaging communities worldwide, her landscape drawing are created using walking pattern systems with snowshoes. Aside from these creations, Hinrichsen also creates other forms of art that include videos, performance art, installations, and situational art, as well as environmental art.

“I believe that through the means of art it is possible to point out the importance of environmental soundness – through speaking to emotion and passion for nature, and through unlocking an ancient sense of freedom and awe,” she explains.

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Snow drawing in Ooms Pond, NY, 2011

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