Hair Raising
Shoplifter / Hrafnhildur Arnardót- tir is one of Iceland’s leading contemporary artists, based in New York. Working with both synthetic and natural hair, her sculptures, wall murals and site-specific installations explore themes of vanity, self-image, fash- ion, beauty and popular myth. For Shoplift- er, hair is the ultimate thread that grows from our body.
Shoplifter / Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir , words by Dayna Clarke
Shoplifter / Hrafnhildur Arnardót- tir is one of Iceland’s leading contemporary artists, based in New York. Working with both synthetic and natural hair, her sculptures, wall murals and site-specific installations explore themes of vanity, self-image, fash- ion, beauty and popular myth. For Shoplift- er, hair is the ultimate thread that grows from our body. Hair is an original, creative
fibre, a way for people to distinguish them- selves as individuals, and often an art form. Humour plays a prominent role in her life and work, sometimes subtly, but at other times taking over.
Shoplifter’s connection with hair
In creating her installations, Shoplifter ex- plores people’s intimate, emotional con- nection with hair. It is often a part of us that
shapes our identity, marking stages of our lives throughout the years. The artist vividly notes her first realization of this, reflecting on the discovery of her grandmother’s braid in her vanity drawer, a ‘morbid’ but ‘beauti- ful’ relic of her youth. After cutting off her own braid, she remembers her disappoint- ment, realizing she had short hair. ‘I just wanted the braid! it didn’t occur to me that it would be such a transformation.
‘The artist’s creations transport the observ- er to fuzzy vibrant forests. “I haven’t met a colour I didn’t like”, explains Shoplifter in an interview with Design Boom.
Achieving Worldwide Acclaim
Shoplifter represented Iceland at the Venice Biennale in 2019, and her installation Chro- mo Sapiens opened at the Icelandic Pavilion in May 2019 in Venice, Italy. The installation later travelled to Iceland, opening at the Reykjavik Art Museum in January 2020.
Other recent work includes solo exhibitions at Kulturhuset Stadsteatern in Stockholm, Sweden (2020), The Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia (2020), Kiasma, the Finnish National Gallery (2019), the National Gallery of Iceland (2017), the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles (2017) and the Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art in Australia (2016).
Notable projects and awards include her large window installa- tion created in collaboration with the art collective assume vivid astro focus (avaf) for MoMA, Museum of Modern Art in New York (2008), The Nordic Award in Textiles and The Prince Eugen Medal for artis- tic achievement from the King and Royal Crown of Sweden (2011) [ V ]
To learn more about Shoplifter visit: shoplifterart.com
