artist statement

I am passionate about nature and the materials, animals and the people that are born into this world; this is why I love clay. My process starts with the smell of wet clay and getting the dirt on my fingers as I work with slabs, coils, and pinching. Seeing the slab take on a human form with pressing and pulling, adding and subtracting is exciting, as I express the story behind every sculpture that has somehow appeared in my mind. I draw on ideas from daily life in Iceland and my native country's belief in the word “in between” what you can see and what you can not.

My surfaces are made with stains, underglazes, glazes, paint, wire, wool and paper. Mixed media is also a big part in my sculptures to help to draw the viewer deeper into the stories. To accomplish that I use welding, crocheting, knitting or weaving, copper wire, felted wool, handmade paper, fabric and miscellaneous found objects.

my story

My roots are in Iceland, the land of ice, water and fire; its nature is my color palette. My small island has rich history and tradition of storytelling. I heard endless stories about the Vikings, the trolls that live in our mountains and turn into a rock if the sun shines on them, elves and fairies that live in nature, flowers, and trees. Those creatures could be good or bad, although most of them are good and serve to protect.

Then there are the tales of the hidden people; they live in cliffs and large rocks, but they are beautiful beings like the rest of us. When they come out, you can sometimes see them. Endless stories exist about men and women that are all light colored, with long white hair, decorated with gold. They sometimes lure humans into their rocks where everything is bright gold and light, but if you choose to enter you will never come back. They often present as our guardians, and every family has a story of two of how hidden people saving them from grave danger. I know that one of my ancestors was saved from certain death by avalanche.

I am fascinated with the world in-between, a world where we have creatures that we typically can not see or touch but choose to believe in, or, at least, know their stories. Are the hidden people real and if so, how about other spirits, angels, guardians, goddesses, elves, and trolls?

The most challenging and rewarding role I have taken on is becoming a mother. Seeing by small babies growing into adults is an incredible experience. I love the soft forms of the human body. I am drawn to the female form, maybe because I relate to it. Our body is a temple for our soul. It can take on different forms as it grows and ages from young to old and more experienced.

All of this is brewing in my head when I work on my creations. I pull from this pot of ideas and experience. My path is free, and my work constantly changes  on the way.

resume

Organizations

I am a member of the Roswell Art District, Women's Caucus for Art and the Georgia Clay Council.