Interview with Arna Valsdóttir

From “Vatnið syngur” or “ The Water Sings” from the exhibition "Vatnsberinn-Fjall+Kona” 2015 by Arna Valsdóttir at Ásmundarsalur, The Dome; photograph by Pétur Thomsen

Arna Valsdóttir is currently working at the REITIR arts collaborative in Siglufjörður, in northern Iceland, which annually features diverse, well-known and emerging artists across various disciplines from June 24th to July 7th. As an artist, she creates video and sound installations, often using her own voice and live performance. Her 'life paintings' typically incorporate elements from physical structures with elements of the human being...or being human - as she says in this interview, they are a "portrait of a human being and a portrait of buildings human beings build". She was educated in the multi-media department of the Jan Van Eyck Academie in Maastricht Holland. Arna has been exhibited extensively in Iceland, as well as Belgium, Holland and Germany. She has received commissions from the Icelandic Ministry of Culture, the Akureyri Culture Fund, and others, and has taught at the University of Akureyri, the VMA College of Akureyri, as well as part of the Nordic Light Festival.

In 2014, the Art Museum of Akureyri hosted an exhibition of Arna's work. She is one of the founding artists of the Factory, an artist-managed cultural center in Hjalteyri, Eyjafjördur. Arna is currently based in Akureyri, Iceland. Her website is arnavals.net.

Interview with Niamh O'Doherty

The Long Still (partial clip of installation) by Niamh O'Doherty, 2014

Emerging Irish conceptual artist Niamh O'Doherty is currently inspired by the landscape and near-constant sunlight around her. She is completing a month-long artist residency at The Old School Arthouse (Gamli Skóli) on the island of Hrísey off Iceland's northern coast, just south of the Arctic Circle (full disclosure: so is this interviewer). Using things like Super 8 film, installations, and other means, she explores the notion of time. She has a B.A. in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Art and Design in London and an M.A. from the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. Her work has already been exhibited in galleries and art spaces in both Dublin and London.

When not under Iceland's midnight sun, she lives in Dublin. She was interviewed from her shared living quarters at the Old School Arthouse on Hrísey.