Nature breathes, the sea waves and everything vibrates and trembles.
The theory of the 4 classic elements – earth, fire, water and air – can be traced back to Empedocles, but their origin is probably rather mythological. Three artists with Icelandic relations and one German, deliver their own interpretation of an element, illustrated by the forms, materials and beings that the elements contain or produce.
Thórunn Bára Bjørnsdóttir (painting) has illustrated the development of flora in the volcanic soil of an island, closely related to the fire in Marietta Bonnet’s volcano pictures (pastel), while Pia Rakel Sverrisdóttir (drawing, glass) expresses ice and water in the glass and Nanna Bisp Büchert (photo) explore the theme air.

THÓRUNN BÁRA BJØRNSDÓTTIR

For years, Thórunn Bára has been enamored with the volcanic island Surtsey, an uninhabited island on the southernmost point of Iceland. Surtsey was declared a nature reserve in 1965 and only a few scientists are permitted on land to ensure natural ecological succession for the island to proceed without outside interference. For Thorunn Bára, the vegetation in Surtsey is a symbol of nature’s durability and unpredictability. Her artistic aims revolve around redefining our bond with nature, leveraging a blend of art and science to foster emotional and cognitive insights into our existence. In her works, the artist uses vivid colours, fluid forms and varying perspectives, which for the viewer allows for changing moments of spontaneity and introspection. In addition to observing landscape directly, Thórunn Bára also delves into her own experiences and memories of them, but her works are always rooted in nature and the barren Icelandic land. Her depictions of nature also have an impressionistic touch in the way in which the short visible strokes are laid down by color on canvas to create a sense of movement and life.

MARIETTA BONNET

Marietta creates her pastel drawings “on site”, whenever weather conditions and time allow – whenever she finds new motifs and impressions on her many travels. In the impressionist spirit, her pastels grasp the moment. “…my strength probably is to catch people in movement, or to convey ‘the spirit of place’ in my landscapes/cityscapes and jazz drawings”, as she describes the process herself The scenery is perceived and drawn directly from visual impression on to paper, fastened to her foldable drawing pad and with a box full of pastels in multiple colours beside her, as art historian Pia Stuer Lauridsen describes so precisely in Kunstavisen (Nov. 2021).
It gives a presence to the pictures and the viewer can feel that Bonnet has been sitting right there and drawing. The exhibition shows works created in Sicily and along the northern coast of the island. Here the stoic volcanoes are not erupting, we do not see open fire, but rather large and mighty rocks that unfold in contrast to the deep blue sea or as a background to human life and the cities. The pastels are atmospheric compositions in which nature – the moving sea, dramatic volcanoes and light – plays a decisive role. At Bonnet, the airy and light pastels are contrasted by the handmade and structured paper she works on.

PIA RAKEL SVERRISDÓTTIR

Pia Rakel Sverrisdóttir was born in Scotland 1953 of Finnish and Icelandic parents. In her school age she moved with his parents to Iceland and stayed there until she became a student. She studied architecture at Academy of Arts School of Architecture in Copenhagen and started to experiment with window glass as decoration for buildings. The career as a glass artist started at The Danish Design School where she was guest student.
Looking back, Sverrisdóttir has exhibited both in Denmark and abroad and she also worked at the recognized Danish glass factory (Holmegårds Glasværk) as a designer and had guest teaching jobs at Copenhagen and Kolding Design Schools. She has also been working with decorating tasks in private and public buildings. Some in collaboration with architects. For the past 20 years she has been working with decorating tasks in many parts of the world for the international company VELUX.

NANNA BISP BÜCHERT

Nanna Bisp Büchert’s photographic work has a poetic spell of its own, expressed both in black & white and colours, but always choosing specific themes. In this exhibition, she has found ways to express the concept ‘air’ in relation to heaven and light. In terms of artistic expression, the works fit in extension of the artist’s method; Büchert registers the motive as well as layers, and in the middle of this process experiences the viewer the passage of time. Nature and everyday items have been chosen carefully and arranged in a way that will take the viewer by surprise – such as the fluttering bird which turns out to be fake. This way, she uses a well-known motif, changing it slightly to play with our perception of reality. In another work, the viewer will see hanged and severed fish heads up on a clothesline. The photography becomes one multi-layered image – it is deprived of something real and appears as a beautiful visual composition. Nanna Bisp Büchert grew up in Iceland with a Danish father and an Icelandic mother and has worked with photography since the late sixties.