)
‘Climbing plants of human hair'
Hrafnhildur Arnardottir is an artist who makes photos, pictures and installations as well as staging performances. Fans of Björk will be familiar with the work of her fellow Icelander, for whom she has created incredible hair sculptures, which can also be admired in publicity shots and on the cover of the album Medúlla (2004).
As Shoplifter, Arnardottir creates inimitable braided ‘accessory pieces' using human and synthetic hair that are reminiscent of climbing plants. These works of art are beautiful and decorative but they also have something slightly gruesome and creepy.
Hrafnhildur Arnardottir graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York in 1996. Prior to this she had trained as a fine artist at the Icelandic College of Art and Crafts in Reykjavík.
She also works together with Edda Gudmundsdottir as the Steel and Knife design duo, whose clients include L'Oréal and Redken. They have also realised projects with trend-setting publications such as Crash and Spoon Magazine. Hrafnhildur Arnardottir has been exhibiting her work as an artist around the world since 1994, but this is her first presentation in the Netherlands.