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Icelandic Artist Creates Colorful Immersive Art Installations Using Hair
“Nervescape V,” 2016. QAGOMA, Brisbane. (Photo: Natasha Harth)
Icelandic artist Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir, also known as Shoplifter, uses something unusual to create her colorful art installations—hair. Using both synthetic and real hair, she creates giant fantasy landscapes and sculptures that are at once whimsical and mesmerizing. Braided, molded, brushed, and even melted, hair is layered together to create dynamic artwork that radiates energy.
Her fascination with hair began as a child when she saw her grandmother store one of her cut-off braids in a drawer. Later, it became a way for her to explore a medium that is beautiful and comforting, yet can also spark disgust. “I find it fascinating that we have this forever changing ‘vegetation’ all over our bodies, which we have to groom and tame,” Shoplifter shared with Infringe. “Hair is a remnant of the wildness that we possess, and one of the few things that survives our existence. It’s like a shield, or alternatively it can be a way of showing yourself to the world.”
Shoplifter, who has collaborated with Björk in the past, brings whimsy and humor to her work. Her large-scale Nervescape installations see vibrant tufts of hair used to create an environment that she hopes embraces visitors. Seeing the work as a world of imaginary nerve endings, for Shoplifter the pieces are both a reflection of our internal landscape and also a fantasy meant to provide a means of escape. This playfulness is a call to remember our youth and to push positive energy into the world.
Big opportunities continue to come Shoplifter’s way. In 2019, she will represent Iceland in the Venice Biennale. The world will be waiting anxiously to see what she creates given this huge international platform.
Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir, also known as Shoplifter, is an Icelandic installation artist who uses real and synthetic hair as her primary medium.
“Nervescape V,” 2016. QAGOMA, Brisbane. (Photo: Natasha Harth)
“Nevrescape VII,” 2017. National Gallery of Iceland. (Photo: Frosti Gnarr)
“Nervescape VII,” 2017. National Gallery of Iceland. (Photo: Frosti Gnarr).
“Nervelings,” 2018. Phillips Collection. (Photo: Albert Ting)
“Nervescape IV,” 2015. Nordic Biennial.
“Nervescape,” 2012. Collaboration with Kria Brekkan and Cibelle. Clocktower Gallery, New York. (Photo: Michal Jurewicz)
“Lonely,” 2018. The Watermill Center, New York. (Photo: Untitled Magazine)
Learn more about Shoplifter’s creative philosophy in this 2016 video.
Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir/Shoplifter: Website | Facebook
My Modern Met granted permission to use photos by Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir/Shoplifter.
The post Icelandic Artist Creates Colorful Immersive Art Installations Using Hair appeared first on My Modern Met.
The 13 best places to visit in October for every type of…
The 13 best places to visit in October for every type of traveler
- To find the best places to visit in October 2018, Business Insider looked at climate data, cultural calendars, and peak travel times.
- October is shoulder season for many top tourism destinations, and savvy travelers are already planning their trips.
- The best places to visit in October include the haunted city of Savannah, Georgia, the world’s biggest Oktoberfest celebration in Munich, Germany, and the vibrant cultural hub of Marrakesh, Morocco.
Athabasca Falls Canyon, Alberta, Canada. Photo by Chris Burkard
The amazing L’Auberge de Sedona hotel, Arizona.
Located on the banks of Oak Creek, Cress offers New American/French cuisine with a fantastic view of the creek. Wonderful!
Explore. Dream. Discover.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
-Mark Twain