Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.01.2007, Síða 10

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10 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • 15 January 2007
David Jón Fuller
Artist Inga Torfadóttir recently took part in an unconventional gallery
opening — one that opened the
doors of her own home.
Inga was born and raised
in Iceland and emigrated to
Canada in 1976. Her formal
artistic training includes both
Myndlista og Handiðaskóli Ís-
lands (Icelandic Collage of Art
and Design) and Myndlistaskóli
Reykjavíkur (Reykjavik Col-
lage of Fine Art). Her work has
garnered awards in various art
shows, and is included in col-
lections around the world such
as those of the Government of
Iceland, Winnipeg Art Gal-
lery, Government of Manitoba,
and the National Art Gallery of
North Korea.
Inga works in a variety of
media. She has done pottery
for more than 25 years, and
more recently began printmak-
ing, joining the Manitoba Print-
makers’ Association. She also
teaches classes, including an
upcoming course on waterless
lithography.
Most recently, though, she
took part in a multi-artist public
event in November and Decem-
ber called “In Plain View,” a tour
of artists’ studios in Winnipeg,
in which visitors had the chance
to see artists’ studios, displays
of their work, and purchase
original pieces directly from the
artists. Though Inga had been
involved in a similar tour in the
Interlake, this was the first such
event in Winnipeg.
Inga took the opportunity
to convert two large rooms on
the main floor of her home into
galleries displaying her pottery,
lithographs and Scherenschnitte
(paper cutwork). She says since
her pottery studio is in the base-
ment and she does all her kiln
firing at a studio on Corydon
Avenue, she decided not to have
people tour that part of her op-
eration.
Getting ready for the tours,
which took place the first week-
end in November and the first
weekend in December, was a
heavy task. She spent two weeks
framing and matting all the
works she planned to display,
as well as arranging the spaces
she wanted to show them in.
Even choosing which prints to
show became a headache — she
laughs and says, “At one point
I began to wonder, ‘Is there no
end to this?’”
Since online promotion is a
big part of the tours, she scanned
all the pieces that would be
shown, for use on the event’s
website. The workload wasn’t
totally unwelcome: “I work best
under pressure,” she says. “I
love having a deadline.”
However, it all paid off. She
says attendance was good, with
about 30 per cent of the visitors
coming just as part of the tour,
and who had not previously
known about her.
She was able to combine
the tour with her annual sale of
her artwork. She served wine
and coffee to visitors, and says
some people stayed up to two or
three hours. Interest was great
enough that she was still receiv-
ing calls after the tour dates had
passed, and kept her impromptu
gallery open up until the last
week before Christmas. “I will
definitely take part in this next
year,” she says.
For now, however, she is
foused on preparing her course
on waterless lithography which
is to begin at Martha Street
Studio on February 7, and on
experimenting with Scheren-
schnitte, which she is teaching
herself to do.
Part of her interest in both
media is the freedom they al-
low.
“I like more spontaneity,
I like to work fairly fast,” she
says. “For example, in stone li-
thography you have to sand and
polish the stone — and that can
take hours, even days, depend-
ing on the size of the print, be-
fore you can even start to draw
the image on the stone!”
Waterless lithography, how-
ever, is less complicated, she
says, and requires less prepara-
tion time.
Scherenschnitte is also less
time-sensitive — though it re-
quires great attention to detail
— in that the work can be put
down and picked back up when-
ever one has a chance to work
on it.
She started while on a trip
to a friend’s cottage, when she
wanted to be able to do some
art. She had seen paper cut-
work, but hadn’t been able to
find resources on how to do it.
“So I said, ‘Well, I can figure it
out!’ and I started cutting in the
car — my husband drove — to
West Hawk Lake, and I sat there
for the whole entire trip and
started cutting. I got more and
more excited as I did it, because
I could see the possibilities. I
realized you could do so much
with scissors, but if I were to
use an exacto knife and a mat
underneath, then I could take it
anywhere I wanted.”
The technique, coincidental-
ly, is not that different from that
used in making Icelandic laufa-
brauð, a traditional Christmas
food in which intricate designs
are scored into thin dough.
She has since gotten in touch
with others who do Scheren-
schnitte, and is taking part in “A
Hundred Hearts for Hope.” This
is an in initiative in which 100
pieces of Scherenschnitte on
the theme of hearts, by differ-
ent artists, will be auctioned on
eBay starting February 1. Ap-
proximately 74 per cent of the
sale price of each heart will go
to support St. Jude’s Children’s
Hospital in Memphis, TN and
10 per cent will go to the Guild
of American Papercutters. The
initiative was started by art-
ist Shannon Reinbold-Gee of
Otego, NY, whose mother un-
derwent treatment for cancer.
For more information on In-
ga’s artwork, visit www.artma-
jeur.com/inga/. To find out more
about her upcoming course,
visit www.printmakers.mb.ca/
classes.html#.
Harðfiskur & Skyr
Direct and intelligent,
Lilllian Vilborg’s
editorials for the
Lögberg-Heimskringla
illustrate her passion for
her Icelandic heritage.
Engaged with current
events, relating stories of
Icelandic culture or of the
early days of Icelandic
settlement in North
America, her writing
reflects her broad range of
interests, her compassion
and her commitment
to family, friends and
Icelanders around
the world.
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Inga Torfadóttir creates impromptu
gallery and experiments with new media
Inga’s front foyer and living room became gallery space.
PHOTOS: DAVID JÓN FULLER
Inga with some of her Scherenschnitte, or paper cutwork, on display at her home.
Opening
doors