Iceland review - 2016, Qupperneq 25

ICELAND REVIEW 23
ART
BUTTERFLIES AND BLUEBERRIES
Kristjana’s commissioned work includes wall decorations
on the 32nd floor of Britain’s tallest building, the Shard
skyscraper, and decorations for London’s Connaught
Hotel, such as furniture, umbrellas and menus.
For the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro earlier this
year, she created a project for the city’s landmark beach
hotel, Belmond Copacabana Palace, where every night
of the games, 200 butterfly-shaped kites were projected
onto the building’s seven-floor façade in animation. The
butterflies, each carrying a different country’s flag on its
wings, were designed to represent the coming together
of nations in celebration of cultural diversity.
Tones of grey and brown, predominant in the Icelandic
fauna, are typically out of the picture for Kristjana. Last
year, however, she designed a map of Iceland, deco-
rated with numerous creatures of those colors. For a
moment, palm trees and peacocks gave way to blueber-
ries and Icelandic bird species, which proudly adorn this
fruit of her imagination. u
Clockwise from opposite page: Kristjana’s butterfly projection on the
façade of the Belmond Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro; Colorful
crawling creatures, beautiful birds, fruit and foliage adorn Kristjana’s
maps; Her intricrate creations involve collage on 19th century engravings;
A map of Iceland opened the door for Icelandic fauna and flora in her
work.