Auður Lóa Guðnadóttir, IS

Auður Lóa Guðnadóttir (b. 1993) lives and works in Reykjavík.

She is an artist who explores the boundaries between the subjective and the objective, sculpture and drawing, art and reality. Her subjects are everyday objects and figurative imagery, drawing from both ancient and recent history. Guðnadóttir aims to activate the artworks themselves, always considering them as phenomena within their own social context. She focuses on painted papier-mâché sculptures, and this rough, unruly material gives her work a humorous and distinctive character. By using this seemingly lightweight medium, Guðnadóttir achieves unexpected depth and offers an unconventional perspective on her subjects.

Guðnadóttir graduated from the Fine Arts Department of the Iceland University of the Arts in 2015. Since then, she has worked independently, collaborated with other artists, and participated in exhibitions such as Leikfimi at The Icelandic Folk and Outsider Art Museum, Djúpþrýstingur at the Living Art Museum, and Allt á sama tíma at Hafnarborg.

She received the Visual Arts Council’s Encouragement Award in 2018 for her involvement in and curating of the exhibition Diana, Forever. In spring 2021, Guðnadóttir opened her first major solo exhibition, Yes / No, in Gallery D of the Reykjavík Art Museum, which featured over 100 papier-mâché sculptures. Her works were on view at CHART Art Fair in Copenhagen in 2023.

Her recent solo exhibitions include Forvera at the Akureyri Art Museum, Be Mine at Þula in 2022, Í lausu lofti at Gallerí Úthverfa, and Í rósrauðum bjarma / In Watermelon Sugar at Þula in 2024.