Iceland review - 2016, Page 14

12 ICELAND REVIEW
Illustrator Rán Flygenring tells Vala Hafstað about catching the moment in the mundane.
Traveling inspires me,
because I constantly
look at things through the
eye of the visitor. I’m alert
to anything that happens,
anything I see, constant-
ly asking, ‘What’s that?’
because everything is new
to me,” says 28-year-old
illustrator Rán Flygenring.
In the past four years,
she has traveled from one
country to the next, pencil
and pens in hand, captur-
ing anything that catches
the eye. She is known for
her great sense of humor,
often shining through her
work, her originality, ver-
satility and her ability to
detect the unusual in the
mundane.
She graduated from the
Iceland Academy of the
Arts in 2009 with a degree
in graphic design, but
illustrating quickly drew
her attention. Her work
includes illustrating chil-
dren’s books, a cook book,
creating ads, and, among
the more original, drawing
a Christmas calendar on a
toilet paper roll.
But what she enjoys
the most is making what
she calls “documenta-
ry illustrations.” By that
she means “capturing the
moment in a drawing,
catching the ambiance,
telling a story.” That she
does during her travels the
world over, either by draw-
ing landscape, buildings,
or her favorite subject:
people. Rán is often hired
to attend confer ences,
meetings and festivals to
capture the moment in a
DRAWING ATTENTION
Jensenshús, Eskifjörður, East Iceland, one of the oldest houses in the country, built in 1837.