The Icelandic Canadian - 01.04.2006, Side 25

Vol. 60 # I
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
23
York City and finds being represented by a gallery very helpful in getting her projects out into
the world.
As with most artists, Adalsteinsdottir finds it difficult to characterize her work other than
to say that she paints flat figures. She always begins with a feeling and a story, seeing the com-
pleted painting on the canvas before she begins. Although she might doodle a bit, sketching
her ideas out before painting them is not her practice. She makes oblique references to Bible
stories, folk art, fairy tales and fantasy in her work, hoping to leave the viewer with questions.
The paintings are discreet, understated and demanding of the audience. The colors are muted,
the importance of negative space is in evidence and the daily domestic round is infused with
poetry. She has had to learn to not be embarrassed about making images that might be ques-
tionable to some. “When you put your work on display,” she suggests, “you are opening up
yourself and making yourself vulnerable. You don’t know what kind of reaction the work will
get and you don’t want others to think you’re not cool, but that is a fear you have to ignore.”
Looking at her paintings, one is drawn to the bruising that often appears on the figures. Her
explanation is that the bruising is more about the feelings being documented than it is about
the physical. It is possible to love differently, for example, when you see someone’s vulnera-
bility- their dark side, their sad side.
Tordls suggests that the fact that there isn’t the same tradition of visual art in Iceland as
there is, for example, of literature, gives artists a certain freedom. They are not weighed down
by Icelandic art history and advance expectations about what art should be. She tends to make
references to art history in her work in a way that amuses her e.g. by casting “macho” artists
of the past in a feminine light. In Iceland, she felt, however, that painting, her medium of
choice, was viewed as old-fashioned and “not seen to be the thing these days.” In New York,
she began using painting as a main medium to comment on painting itself. There, she saw
painting taken seriously as part of the modern art scene.
Asked how she feels about how her art is interpreted, Thordis suggests that it is always
interesting, sometimes surprising, to learn what reactions people have. She finds it fascinating
to see how different people read differently what they see. Even if she feels that people are
totally off in terms of what she had in mind, she finds that each response makes her think and
helps her to grow as an artist. You can’t take things personally. You are stretched by each
response. You can even get really curious from reading a bad review. She feels a piece or a
show must have something in it to evoke such a negative reaction. Her response is that “every-
thing is inspiring, even if I don’t like it.”
If you have an opportunity to view Tordfs Adalsteinsdottir’s work, seize it. She will show
you how she sees the world and it will influence how you see it for yourself.
Pjodraeknisfelag Islendinga f Vesturheimi
PRESIDENT: Walter Sopher
Support Icelandic culture and heritage
by joining your local chapter; or contact:
The Icelandic National League
#103-94 First Ave. Gimli, MB ROC 1B1
Tel: (204) 642-5897 • Fax: (204) 642-7151
inl@mts.net