Nervescape XI —
Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir / Shoplifter
A site-specific installation transforming the gallery into a multi-colored sensory experience
Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir / Shoplifter constructs entire spaces in vivid, hyper-colorized installations that recall the emotional vastness of the mid-twentieth-century color-field painting movement. With Arnardóttir’s use of textiles, fibers, and both real and synthetic hair, she explores notions of beauty, identity, excess, consumerism, and individual and collective self-expression, often with a gentle touch of humor. Nervescape XI transforms the museum into a fantastical environment of brilliant color and soft forms. She plays with contrasts: bright colors and soft forms, synthetic and natural, intimate and immense, inner and outer worlds, and in so doing, invites the viewer on an immersive journey. Arnardóttir constructs her work from thousands of bundles of synthetic hair that resemble nerve cells, enabling a tactile-sense experience. Her colorful, immersive installations create enveloping spaces that invite viewers to explore and interact with the art, offering a unique sensory experience.
About Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir / Shoplifter
Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir / Shoplifter is a renowned Icelandic contemporary artist based in New York. Her innovative work primarily utilizes synthetic and natural hair to create captivating sculptures, murals, and site-specific installations. She learned hair work as a traditional craft from her grandmother and remembers drawers of cut hair. The use of hair is a highly personal, intimate, and often emotionally charged medium that adds a layer of deep complexity to the soft, calming, large-scale spaces. As one of Iceland’s leading artists, Shoplifter has garnered international recognition for her distinctive approach to art, including her representation of Iceland at the Venice Biennale in 2019.
