Reykjavík Grapevine - jul. 2022, Side 20

i8 Grandi
Marshallhúsið
Grandagarður 20
101 Reykjavík
Iceland
info@i8.is
+354 551 3666
www.i8.is
Alicja Kwade
In Relation to the Sun,
to Sequences of Events,
i8 Grandi — 22.01.22–22.12.22
The
Power
of
Images
Erró
09.04.–29.9.2022
Hafnarhús
Tryggvagata 17
+354 411 6410
artmuseum.is
Open daily
10h00–17h00
Thursdays
10h00–22h00
Art of Defiance
Ukrainian art comes to Iceland
Words: Alice Poggio Photo: Óskar Hallgrímsson
Óskar Hallgrímsson and Mariika
Lobyntseva, power couple behind
textile art collaboration “Comfort-
able Universe”, join us on video call
from Kyiv, Ukraine, with bursts of
technicolour visible in the back-
ground of their art studio. They
have only recently been reunited
with their art. For the first six weeks
after Russia invaded Ukraine, the
Ukrainian military had been utilis-
ing the building.
Their art consists of brightly
coloured wall hangings, hand-sewn
from wool and acrylic, depicting
minimalistic characters engaging
in beautifully mundane activities
that we often take for granted.
It all began during lockdown, as
a response to the boredom and
discomfort of the pandemic.
Tough times, soft
solutions
COVID-19 created a need to escape
to a more comforting place, even if
just through creativity and imagi-
nation. It was Óskar
and Mariika’s “way
to not go crazy,” she
says. They built what
they call “an opposite
world” to the one they
were living in.
“ C o m f o r t a b l e
Universe,” their newly
adopted studio name,
was the title of their
previous exhibition
held last December.
The soft pieces offered
a sensory experi-
ence which endorsed
closeness, touch and
warmth—a stark contrast to a
pandemic lockdown. “It portrays
the comfortable feelings we missed
during the pandemic,” Óskar says.
The ageless, raceless, genderless
characters depicted through fluffy
tufts of yarn in Mariika and Óskar’s
art personify the moment in time
when all of humanity struggled
against the same invisible force that
made it grind to a halt.
Longing for safety
Then came war. Mariika and Óskar
found themselves facing an entirely
different kind of monster. “It’s not
unseen and unfelt, it’s very, very
real” Óskar says. Mariika adds: “It
is shocking how quickly you adapt
to your new reality.”
“If we are walking down the
street and look slightly suspicious,
soldiers will stop and search you.
The second they realise that we
mean no harm, they are smiling and
happy to let us go,” Óskar explains.
“Although it was scary at first, now
it makes us feel safer, knowing they
are being extremely careful.”
“Ljómandi Þægilegt”
Confined once again, they made the
best out of their situation, using art
to express what words cannot. It is
this feeling of safety that Comfort-
able Universe has focused on for
their upcoming show, “Ljómandi
Þægilegt”, at Gallery Port from July
16th to August 4th. They will be
bringing the work over to Iceland
soon, in as many checked-bags as
they can carry. “Ljómandi” trans-
lates to “glowing” but it is often
used colloquially as a synonym
for “great.” It describes the glow
we can feel inside “like a candle-
light—warm, comforting, cosy”
Óskar says.
Unexpected Influences
In these newer pieces, beings
peek from behind objects, hiding.
Mariika sketches the designs, which
are then reworked and adapted
by both Óskar and Mariika. “Art
evolves as you go along”, Mariika
explains. “Often you don’t realise
until later, when you exhibit your
work and people see all kinds of
meanings you didn’t even realise
were there.”
Flowers are prominent in their
latest work, with giant daisies and
flower-covered barricades. “I was
never into bouquets, but now when
we see people selling them, we buy
one if we can. It’s a little bit of
happiness,” Mariika smiles. “There
are a lot more flowers in my work
now.”
Dressing Reality
“Our art this time is not meant to
be an ‘escape’, we are merely ‘dress-
ing’ our reality. It’s about defiance,”
Óskar clarifies. “We don’t want to
use obvious war imagery, but it’s
not that we don’t want to acknowl-
edge the pain and the hurt. We
know there’s a lot. We have seen it.”
The only exception to this rule
of theirs is what Óskar and Mariika
like to refer to as “a symbol of defi-
ance.” One of their little beings,
throwing a molotov cocktail. It
is not in the form of a fluffy wall
hanging, but rather one of the most
popular tattoo designs at one of the
flash tattooing events that Mariika
attends. The events take place in an
old warehouse that has served as the
central hub for making molotovs,
camouflage nets, and occasion-
ally hosting raves. All the proceeds
from the tattoos go to
support the Ukrainian
military. “Everyone is
contributing something,
we do what we can with
our skills to help,” says
Mariika.
Defiance is the other
pervasive theme in
“Ljómandi Þægilegt.”
It can come in many
forms. A person buying
a bouquet of flowers,
the trees blooming for
spring in cities yet to
be liberated, or creating
art under a sniper occu-
pied roof. It’s a soldier taking up
gardening tools while on break, to
make sure the roots of their city's
beloved trees get enough air. His
AK47 rested on his back, swinging
from side to side with every motion
of the trowel.
Russian officials will try to have
you believe that Ukraine won’t even
exist in a few years’ time. Óskar and
Mariika assured us it is just noise,
and every small act of defiance
helps to drown it out, becoming
another voice that joins the ever
louder chant: “we’re not going
anywhere.”
Striking lines
Mariika and Óskar with their works
Art 20The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 07— 2022