SÍM

Fimmtudaginn 19. júní kl. 17–19 opnar sýningin Nafli heimsins með nýjum verkum eftir Söru Sigurðardóttur, í Grafíksalnum í Reykjavík. Sýningin stendur til og með 6. júlí og er opið mið - föst frá kl. 14 - 17 og kl. 12 - 17 um helgar.

Listamannaspjall verður laugardaginn 21.júní kl. 14:00. Verkin eru unnin með hjálp launasjóðs listamanna og sýningin er styrkt af Myndlistarsjóð Íslands.

Nafli Heimsins er fyrsta einkasýning Söru á Íslandi, en hún er búsett og starfar í London. Sara útskrifaðist með M.A. í Málun frá Konunglega Listaháskólanum í London 2019, en lærði þar áður við Myndlistarskólann í Reykjavík og Art Institute of Cumbria, Englandi. Fyrri sýningar eru meðal annars, 16:9 Billboard Commission at Kingsgate Project Space, London (2022), Secondhand daylight at Thameside Gallery Space, London (2022) Journeyman, solo show at XXijrahii, London (2021), Degree show from Royal College of Art, London (2019). Hide and Seek at Fitzrovia Gallery, London(2019). Meshes of the afternoon at Courtyard Gallery, London (2019). Surge at the Courtauld Institute Somerset House, London (2018).

In Nafli heimsins / The Navel of the World, Icelandic artist Sara Sigurðardóttir (b. 1993) guides us through explorations of materiality, time and consciousness to reflect on the shifting experiences and cataclysmic transformations of motherhood. Blending earthy textures with celestial forms, her paintings draw from volcanic landscapes, physical sensations and spiritual visions. The exhibition’s title references an Icelandic expression for a place of central importance,linguistically tied to the womb – the navel marking our physical detachment from our mothers. It also evokes the idea of navel-gazing,’ alluding to the long-standing cultural dismissal of motherhood as an unserious subject for art.

Sigurðardóttir subverts this perception by employing decorative forms and combining seemingly opposing imagery to create her layered compositions. Working from quick sketches made during everyday moments of care, she digitally develops selected forms and cuts them from wood, using them as the foundation for her surfaces. Built up with paint scraps, marble dust, and sand, these works evoke both the raw materiality of the earth and the visceral intensity of the body in labour. Recurring motifs, such as umbilical cords, chains and erupting landscapes, reflect the emotional complexity of motherhood: its beauty and burden, serenity and violence, its power to both bind and liberate.

Text by Millie Walton