Cole Nyquist is a photographer and woodworker from southern Minnesota. Cole developed an interest in Old Norse studies while attending St. Olaf College, majoring in Medieval Studies and Norwegian with concentrations in Linguistics and Nordic Studies. After graduating from St. Olaf, he attended the Viking and Medieval Norse Masters Program offered jointly by the Universities of Iceland, Oslo, Aarhus, and Copenhagen. Cole studied Old Norse religion, history, and philology and lived in Iceland and Norway during his studies, completing the program with a Masters of Philosophy and writing his thesis on compositional techniques and perceptions of authorship in Skaldic poetry.
While studying abroad and traveling throughout Europe and the United States, Cole developed a love for photography and taught himself how to take and edit photographs of his travels. Returning to the United States, he also began to teach himself woodworking with the help of his father. Seeing an opportunity to bring his education and love of Old Norse language, poetry, and runic writing into his work, Cole began to create various woodworking projects incorporating Old Norse designs and runes through pyrography and carving.
Contact and ordering information:
email: cole.nyquist@gmail.com
instagram: @seidhr
2 replies on “About the Artist”
We met you at the Art Fair in Moose Lake this past summer. We purchased a black walnut, “Hatchet Board from you. Just yesterday we gifted it to our brother-in-law – and he absolutely was pleased to become its caretaker. (He is a woodcarver himself and appreciates woods, and artisan skills and expertise.) He particularly loved the wood, the actual shape and the “runes” message around the edge. Thank you for sharing your passion and talents.
We love your food board I purchased at the Nordic Festival at Buck Hill. We read your bio and we’re also intrigued as our daughter has very like interests and is leaving for college pursuing some of the same interests you have. We just wanted to say thank you and we look forward to finding new pieces of art for our home from you. Again thank you!!