Týsgallerí
These days artist Eygló Harðardóttir is exhibiting her work at Týsgallerí, at Týsgata 3 in Reykjavík. The exhibition’s heading, Parallel Views (Samsíða sjónarhorn), refers to a specific method of displaying three dimensions on a two dimensional surface without perspective, a technique used in Eastern classical art, architectural drawings, and computer games. This connection to isometrics triggers ideas about a world where all dimensions are close and of equal importance.
Eygló works with visual phenomena. Explorations of this form are never the endpoint of her works, but rather one of many parallel dimensions in a multi-layered process. Phenomena like afterimages evoke questions such as what impressions or events from the surroundings elicit ideas, and whether it is even possible to comprehend that relationship, or the function, between inner and outer reality. The works in the exhibition which refer to architecture are reminiscent of ruins or abandoned farms where the inner and the outer world have merged, or nature re-joining the man-made. The afterimages and the impressions exist like material phenomena and real events, although they possibly exist on a “finer” frequency and are not defined by time and space. Each image calls for another; each colour conjures an opposite colour, like some kind of perverse echo or a reply.
Eygló uses delicate and pliable materials, but her process is safe and stable and the materials strengthen during the process. One of her works, a type of wind gauge, is more reminiscent of a horizontal millwheel than a traditional wind gauge which turns without resistance. These works have gone through numerous permutations during their creation and as such, encompass these transformations. The process is transparent and the raw quality of the works keeps all options open. The spectator needs to be susceptive to tiny aspects, such as the granulated edge of a paper which serves as a gateway into the work because it literally opens up the material, creating a fusion between the work and the spectator. The exhibition works (painted sculptures/three-dimensional paintings) thus have a direct physical effect and need to be experienced first-hand. Both the materials and the interpretations are open; they are penetrable.
A review of the exhibition, written by artist Kari Ósk Grétarsdóttir. Published by SÍM, The Association of Icelandic Visual Artist in Stara no 3, online art magazine