Kristina Chan: Impossible Measures
Following the success of Kristina Chan: Habitable Climes at Canada House Gallery, The Sunderland Collection Art Programme is proud to announce a second exhibition in the Royal Geographical Society’s Director’s Gallery from 1 – 28 October 2025.
For this presentation, Impossible Measures will highlight the works created by Kristina using instruments from the RGS archives.
Kristina in the Arctic. Credit: Su Müstecaplıoğlu
As part of her participation in The Sunderland Collection Art Programme, Kristina went on two expeditions: the first to the Arctic Circle via the Svalbard Channel where she drifted between ice floes and mountainous glaciers aboard Dutch tall ship, ‘Antigua’, and experienced the midnight sun. Her second trip took her to a remote, desiccated lakebed in the Nevada desert where she endured multiple mighty dust storms.
In these polar-opposite locations, Kristina observed and captured these extreme environments and their changing climatic conditions with awe and with caution. Immersed in these landscapes, Kristina considered the practical aspects of early European exploration, and was drawn to “the systems and scales we apply to the world”. She began investigating the tools that were historically used for measurement and recording.
Impossible Measures (2025), Series of 16 etchings on Somerset satin white 300gsm, 25 x 25 cm. Editions of 10.
Upon her return to London, Kristina was invited by the Cartographic Collections Manager Dr. Katie Parker to explore the rich collection of scientific instruments in the Royal Geographical Society Archives. The RGS is home to over two million maps, instruments and artefacts spanning over 500 years of exploration.
For the resulting series of works, the artist photographed Victorian instruments from behind frosted glass - including sextants belonging to eminent naturalist Charles Darwin and explorer Dr. David Livingstone, and a miniature theodolite awarded to writer and archaeologist Gertrude Bell. You can find out more about the instruments used in this series here.
The Impossible Measures exhibition also features the series Habitable Climes and a selection of works entitled View Finding.
Habitable Climes
This series is a luminous set of five screen prints reflecting the notion of dividing the planet into ‘habitable climes’, as illustrated by objects from The Sunderland Collection. According to a theory first described by Aristotle, the Earth was thought to have five climes: two habitable, ‘temperate’ climes, two ‘frigid’ zones and a ‘torrid’, hot zone.
Zona Temperata, clima ii (2025). Pigment print with screen print on Japanese Kozo Natural 110gsm, 90 x 110 cm. Edition of 5.
Zona Torrida, clima iii (2025). Pigment print with screen print on Japanese Kozo Natural 110gsm, 90 x 110 cm. Edition of 5.
Each work in the Habitable Climes series features lushly coloured photography accented by text and symbols inspired by early cartography. She chooses images that prompt further enquiry, such as a seemingly wild tropical climate which was in fact photographed at Kew Gardens in London.
View Finding
Through the View Finding series, Kristina invites the viewer to step back in time to learn about how Victorian travellers and explorers sought to record their ‘discoveries’ and bring them home to examine in a domestic environment - echoing our use of modern day Instagram. This series speaks of the universal appetite we have for imagery, and history of democratisation within photography.
Kristina uses a variety of techniques in homage to the evolution of photography paired with evocative choices in paper - one of Kristina’s first loves - to emulate the iridescence in old silver gelatine, gold orotone and wet collodion prints.
She has also sought to enhance the physical view finding experience by way of creating stereoscopes and graphoscopes, once again inspired by the photographic expedition slides within the RGS archives.
“I wanted a preciousness to come from these images. They needed to be something more to come off screen to because of the array of images we are faced with everyday. … I wanted [to create] a moment to feel like you had to engage with it, and to get closer, and stop.”
©Kristof Jeney
Additional works on display in the exhibition include a mirrored study of a sextant titled 60 Degrees (etching, 2025); and two special editions Axis Points (pigment print, 2025) and Glaciers Are Not Made Of Ice (etching, 2025) which are available from the Oculi Mundi shop.
60 Degrees (2025) Etching on Zerkall German etch 350gsm. 50 x 50 cm. Edition of 10.
Helen Sunderland-Cohen, director of The Sunderland Collection Art Programme, said: “It is an enormous pleasure to bring Kristina’s work to the Royal Geographical Society. We are very grateful to the RGS for allowing her to access and engage with their extraordinary archives.”
Dr Katie Parker, cartographic collections manager, the Royal Geographical Society said: “Kristina shows the intricate connections between history, geography, and art in this stirring collection of works. It was a delight and an honour to watch her interact with our instrument collection, an experience which was then turned into thought-provoking images that question power and perspective in exploration.”
Kristina Chan: Impossible Measures will be on display at the Director’s Gallery, Royal Geographical Society, London, SW7 2AR from 1 – 28 October 2025.
Royal Geographical Society Members, Fellows, and their guests can access the Director's Gallery during RGS opening hours, and it is open to attendees of the RGS Monday Night Lectures.
About the RGS
The Royal Geographical Society is a learned society, professional body and registered charity with over 14,000 members that has been dedicated to the advancement of geographical science since its founding in 1830.
Today, they deliver this mission by developing, supporting, and promoting geographical education, research, expeditions and fieldwork, and professional practice, as well as by advocating on behalf of the discipline.
Their broad public and cultural engagement programme - alongside their historical Collections of over two million items spanning 500 years of geography, travel and exploration - support their aim to foster an understanding and informed enjoyment of the world we live in. Everyone with an enthusiasm for geography, travel and exploration is welcome to join.
Explore all the RGS' wonderful resources, research, and upcoming events at RGS.org
Axis Points (2025) Pigment print on Hahnemühle metallic paper. 25 x 25 cm. Edition of 20.
For a list of works, enquiries and acquisitions please contact us:
