Jóna Hlíf Halldórsdóttir

Jóna Hlíf was born in 1978 and lives and works in Reykjavík. She is currently the acting Chair of the Federation of Icelandic Artists. She completed an MA in Art Education from the Iceland University of the Arts in 2013, earned an MFA from the Glasgow School of Art in 2007, and graduated from the Akureyri School of Visual Arts in 2005.

Textual-based art and researching material has been the core of my artistic expression for years. By exploring text as “texture,” my work reveals how it can support or dominate visual elements, function as a vessel for thought, shape societies, serve as a foundation for ideas, or open a doorway to creativity and understanding.

Recent projects have dealt with essence, time, and the image as reflected through text. In these, words take on new meanings and associations, transformed through their interaction with materials, media, context, or spatial placement. I often return to themes such as spatial use, representation, and the act of depiction.

I work with various media—paper, photography, video, sculpture, and installation—where concepts and materials co-evolve in ways that often feel cyclical.

Mistakes are usually neither unrefined nor wrong; they are part of the process. The act of creation is rooted in uncertainty. Things don’t always go as planned, and that’s where tensions emerge—new paths open, revealing hidden potential and the unexpected.

Jóna Hlíf has extensive experience in the visual arts and their management. She served as Director of Gerðarsafn – Kópavogur Art Museum (2019–2021), Chair of the Association of Icelandic Visual Artists (2014–2018), and Chair of the Sculptors’ Association in Reykjavík (2011–2013). She has worked as an independent visual artist since 2006 and has been a part-time teacher since 2010 at several institutions, including the Iceland Academy of the Arts, the Reykjavík School of Visual Arts, the Reykjavík School of Photography, and the Akureyri School of Visual Arts.

She has also served on the boards of Skaftfell Center for Visual Art (2014-2018), Federation of Icelandic Artists (2014-2018), and the Reykjavík Arts Festival (2017-2019). Jóna Hlíf has established herself as an artist with in-depth expertise in both artistic practice and institutional work, including curating, museum operations, and art education. She has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in museums and galleries in Iceland and abroad, and her work is held in the collections of all major museums in Iceland.

jonahlif@gmail.com
Mobile +354 6630545
Studio space; Seljavegur 32, 101 Reykjavik

photo credit: Saga Sig