Pia Rakel Sverrisdóttir was born in Scotland 1953 by Finnish-Icelandic parents. When she began school, she moved with her parents to Iceland and stayed there until she completed high school.
Education: 1973-79 – Pia studied architecture at Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts’ School of Architecture Copenhagen -1979 Orrefors, Sweden – 1980-82 glass art at Danish Design School – 1984 Pilschurch, Washington, USA.
Exhibitions & grants
Selected exhibitions
- 1983: Nordic Glass, Helsinki, The Living Art Museum, Reykjavík
- 1984: The Spring Exhibition, Galeri Het Glashuis, The Netherlands
- 1985: Nordic House Island, 2nd Coburg Glass Prize in Europe, Germany, Ebeltoft Glass Museum
- 1986: Hordaland Art Center, Norway, Galleri Sct. Agnes, Roskilde
- 1987: Aarhus Art Building
- 1988: Trondheim Museum of Arts and Crafts, Haugesund, Moss, Stuttgart
- 1989: Galerie Domin, Kaarst, Germany, Gallery Stender, Roskilde
- 1990: Nielsen Galerie, Malmö, Gallerie Bie & Vadstrup, CPH, Galerie Sct. Evers am Kreuz, Cologne. Int. Glasstrien. Kanazawa, Japan. Næstved Museum, Aalborg Art Pavilion.
- 1991: Galleri Brantebjerg, Nykøbing Sj.
- 1992: Bryggens Museum, Norway, Röska Museum, Gothenburg, Sweden, The Arts and Crafts Museum CPH, Rihimaki, Helsinki.
- 1993: Nordic House, Faroe Islands, Nordic House, Iceland
- 1994: Icelandic Inspirations, Gammelgaard, Herlev.
- 1995: Danish Design News, Sophienholm, The Artists’ House, Aarhus, Frauenau Glass Museum, Germany.
- 1996: Reykjavik Art Festival, Iceland, Gallery Grønlund, CPH, Brauckhman Galerie, Belgium
- 1997: Nordic Glass Artists Gl. Holtegaard, Riihimäki Glass Museum, Helsinki
- 1998: “Observations”, Rundetårn, CPH
- 1999: “Current Danish Glass Art” The Museum Building Art Auctions, CPH
- 2000: “Nordic Glass” traveling exhibition in 6 Nordic / Baltic countries.
- 2001: Galleri Krebsen, CPH
- 2002: Steninge Palace, Stockholm, Sweden, Hadeland, Norway.
- 2003: Galleri Fold, Reykjavik, Galleri Krebsen, KBH.
- 2004: The Glass Museum Ebeltoft, Horsens Art Association, Amnesty International CPH
- 2005: Steninge Palace, Stockholm, “Glass in Architecture” Gerdarsafn, Reykjavik
- 2007: “International Glass”, Stockholm.
- 2008: Ulriksholm Castle, Funen
- 2010: Listasalur Mosfellsbæjar, Iceland
- 2012: Lyngby Art Association, “The Obsession of Art”, Bergen, Holland.
- 2013: Galleri Krebsen, CPH, Háteigskirkja, Reykjavik, Iceland.
- 2015: “The best in Glass in 25 years” Ebeltoft Glassmuseum, Denmark
- 2016: Galleri Krebsen’s 25th Anniversary Exhibition, CPH
- 2017: “Iceland now” Nykøbing Mors Art Association
- “The Circle of my Life”, Blue House, Siglufjörður, Iceland.
- 2019: GRAPHICS & GLASS, Galleri Krebsen, CPH, Denmark
Experience
Designer at Holmegaards Glassworks 1986-89. Visiting teacher: Denmark’s Design School 1985-90, Kolding Arts and Crafts School 1990-92, Glazier School in Holbæk 1991. As an independent artist she has worked with glass design, utility art and glass decorations from 1990, simultaneously exhibiting at home and abroad.
Pia has also been at the forefront of a recycled glass project supported by the Urban Ecological Foundation and the Green Job Pool in the District Quarter 1999-2003, exploring the possibilities for sustainability in application of glass.
For the past 20 years, she has carried out decorating assignments to many parts of the world for the international company VELUX – known for creating high quality windows – as they want a distinctive character for the individual departments spread throughout the world.
For some years she has been working on designing prizes for the Danish Finance Society’s annual awards to representatives of central economic science analyzes. Furthermore, she has decorated ten private and public buildings – some of them in collaboration with architects.
Inspirations and artistic features
It jumps to the eye that the Icelandic nature and the rushing sea are the inspiration. Icelandic nature is a recurrent and recurring theme in which Pia Rakel Sverrisdóttir moves in. She returns to her beloved Icelandic nature several times a year in her cottage / studio in Iceland.
Often you overlook the fact that Pia began her education at the School of Architecture. Her abilities are wide ranging from industrial design to flat glass artistic objects, and not least when it comes to architectural decoration. Her passion is the symbiosis between architecture and art.
She herself says that the Icelandic forces of nature are the driving force in her expression, woven together with the Nordic light, memories, mythologies and archetypal expressions. Glaciers have millennia of history hidden within them and beneath it lies a volcano that can erupt at any time and change the landscape and life of humans and animals. Here I see a parallel to my choice of materials and techniques, says Pia: “The glass oven represents the burning lava, the sandblasting the ice and the flat glass the water.”
A distinctive feature of her glass art is the graphic expression of sandblasting techniques and relief effects in burnt black metal foil to create landscape abstractions of the Icelandic nature.
Another feature is the environmental aspect and the recycling of flat glass. From the beginning of her work, she has been busy figuring out how glass waste heaps can bring new life to a new product, as glass is indestructible and energy saving in comparison to producing new glass. In this process, she has developed glass tiles for bathrooms, kitchens and window panels.
Pia has a workshop on the flat, but slightly variegated island Amager. Inside her workshop are Icelandic sprinkles, birds and other mythological creatures, while the glacier advances in sandblasted form in the clear window glass.
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