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Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir aka Shoplifter / Iceland/United States b.1969 / Nervescape V 2016 (installation view) / Modacrylic fibre, nylon zip ties, steel staples / Commissioned 2016 for ‘Sugar Spin: you, me, art and everything’, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane / © Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir / Photograph: Natasha Harth, QAGOMA
Hrafnhildur ARNARDÓTTIR AKA SHOPLIFTERNervescape V 2016
Not Currently on Display
Nervescape V is an exuberant, tactile and sprawling installation constructed from massed bundles of synthetic hair. The work is like a super-sized nervous system connecting people and ideas within the ‘body’ of the gallery space.
Nervescape V is sensual and enveloping, its softness evoking a maternal comfort, or a child cuddling a soft toy. It is also unsettling; to see such a volume of hair is strange, even grotesque. Immersive and tactile, Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir’s work invites a return to our primal instincts.
Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir aka Shoplifter or ‘Shoppy’ is an Icelandic artist based in New York. Arnardóttir first trained as a painter from 1989 to 1993 at the Icelandic College of Art and Crafts. Three years later, she received a Master of Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts, New York. Arnardóttir has worked for several years exploring the aesthetic and symbolic use of hair.
Discussion Questions
1. Looking at the artwork, what do you see? What do you think each colour represents?
2. In what ways do people create their identity through their choice of hairstyle and colour?
Classroom Activities
Design a new hairstyle that reflects a fictitious personality or your own. With a friend, construct your hairstyle and photograph yourself wearing it. Give your hairstyle a name.