Reykjavík Grapevine - 16.03.2018, Blaðsíða 36

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Intense Freedom
Korkimon finds independence through art
Words: John Rogers Photo: Art Bicnick
Exhibition
Korkimon’s solo show opens at
Geysir Heima on March 23rd
Melkorka Katrín Tómasdóttir, aka
Korkimon, opens the door to her
studio with a beaming smile. Hid-
den in the top floor of an unassum-
ing office building, her workspace
is located in a network of rooms
she shares with some other young
artists. It’s littered with interest-
ing stuff—a chaise longue set
against a black backdrop; a pile of
books topped by the Petra Collins-
edited compendium ‘Babe’; an eye-
catching Alvia Islandia calendar.
Her studio is lined with the
small sculptures and pinned-up
line drawings that will make up
her forthcoming show at Geysir
Heima. She inspects them care-
fully. “My work is not very refined,”
she begins. “It’s sort of unfinished.
I like to see the traces of the pro-
cess, when I look at other artists’
work—I like it when you can see how
they were hammering the object.”
The exhibition will consist of
new drawings and sculptures,
mixed with her favourite exist-
ing work. “I’ve been making new
drawings for the past two months,
but some of the sculptures are
from my graduation show. It’s sort
of, in my opinion, my ‘Best of.’
It’s the work I’m most proud of.”
Mutual support
Melkorka graduated from the Sarah
Lawrence College in New York City
in May 2017. “I just moved back,”
she says. “Everyone’s very sur-
prised. Any time I’d tell someone
I lived in New York, they were like,
“Wow! That must
be amazing!” But
I moved t here
when I was 12, so
I was used to it.”
She’s enjoy-
ing the change of
pace. “I like be-
ing home,” she
continues. “The
quality of life in
Iceland is so high,
and there’s cama-
raderie in the art
scene. Everyone
wants to work together and sup-
port each other here. In New York,
it’s more competitive. There are
so many artists. It’s dog-eat-dog.”
Viscerally fleshy
Melkorka’s large-scale drawings
are created by tracing sketchbook
works onto acetate, blowing them
up on an overhead projector, and re-
drawing the lines onto bigger sheets
of paper. “It’s like a whole new medi-
um for me,” she says. “It’s a different
technique, using the same drawing,
with elements of reproducing and
recycling. I really like these step-by-
step, problem-solving processes.”
The resulting imagery is often
viscerally fleshy, including teeth,
gums, muscles, tendons and other
distorted body parts. “The female
body is an underlying red-thread
that’s always part of my work,” she
explains. “It’s an instinctive, in-the-
moment choice of what I’ll draw.
When I’m writing a statement or
trying to figure out what my work is
about, meaning always comes after
the fact. I don’t decide to make work
about X and Y—I make a tonne of ev-
erything, and then
I curate all the ac-
cidents together.”
Total
indulgence
For Melkorka, art
is an escape from
the steady climb
up the rungs of
school and aca-
d em i a . “ W h en
I w a s g row i ng
up and going to
school, I felt like I was always be-
ing prepped for the next stage,”
she finishes. “Being prepped for
college, which is then prepping
you for life. But in my art, I’m the
highest voice. I control everything.
It’s a total indulgence, an intense
freedom that I don’t feel in the
real world.”
Melkorka Katrín Tómasdóttir, aka Korkimon
Artists
Bára Kristinsdóttir
Claire Paugam
Eirún Sigurðardóttir
Elín Hansdóttir
Eva Ísleifsdóttir
Guðrún Benónýsdóttir
Haraldur Jónsson
Shoplifter/Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir
Hrafnkell Sigurðsson
Hreinn Friðfinnsson
Katrín Elvarsdóttir
Klængur Gunnarsson
Margrét Bjarnadóttir
Roni Horn
Sigurður Guðmundsson
Steina
Una Margrét Árnadóttir
Örn Alexander Ámundason
Curator
Brynja Sveinsdóttir Em
b
od
y
1
9.
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1
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1
5.
0
4
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8
Gerðarsafn Kópavogur Art Museum
“In my art, I’m the
highest voice. I
control every-
thing. It’s an
indulgence and
freedom that I
don’t feel in the
real world.”
i8 Gallery
Tryggvagata 16
101 Reykjavík
info@i8.is
t: +354 551 3666
www.i8.is
ORRI
8 February - 24 March 2018
i8 Gallery is on facebook and instagram @i8gallery.