My surrealistic novel created the fictional character of a sculptor who isolates himself for three years inside a volcanic fault in search of the meaning of art creation, ultimately challenging his own strength. This character’s pursuit engaged me more powerfully over time. It became a lead, a comfort, a presence in my steps. Aware of my mounting obsession, my husband, himself a musician resolved to find a place that would replicate the setting of my novel. One morning at sunrise, we drove to Ferraria.

I keep returning to Ferraria — the disappeared island, Ilha Sabrina — with fascination. There, at the end of a winding road, lays a desolate field of volcanic stones and a hot spring surging into the seawater. At mid-tide, between rocks, one can bathe in secluded warm water while wild ocean waves break close by. Early morning or after sunset, the area is back to complete isolation; ruins of a house stand, strange solace. The place is stone for stone, wave for wave, the landscape that my novel had depicted.

~ Christine Arveil, The Volcano Project (via)

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