Katrín Sigurdardóttir or "the World as We Know It"

You ever get that feeling where you're really ill or you get up too fast and the world seems to be shifting beneath you. You twist and turn and then trip and fall and land face down on the floor, and you think to yourself how different the world looks when it's on its side. Of course, your friends and family will never let you forget that time that you passed out at your cousin's Barmitzvah, but that's not the point. The point is that you have experienced an altered landscape

It's the places that we hold dear that make us who we are. Well, at least that's Katrín Sigurdardóttir believes. This is the core theme of this Icelandic artist's vision. She recognizes that we all have places that we carry with us places we feel more comfortable in. These smells and sights and tastes and memories, especailly the memories, combine to form us as people. These places are "home" to us.

This whole concept of "carried places" is beautifully represented through Sigurdardóttir's artwork. Each piece shows a carefully craftedd landscape, but it is ususlly what surrounds the landscape that truly holds the message. "Haul IV" is a lush green landscape contained within a wooden box. "High Plane V" actually allows the viewer to be transported to an arctic ocean, complete with icebergs. On top of the exquisite design, there is, of course, the minimalist style that seems to run true through most Scandinavian art. It's like Ikea. You just can't buy anything.

So imagine all the places you love. The city, the desert, that place under your staircase that smells like your late dog, Wilbur. Now take those places and imagine they are physical realities that have been shrunk and combined with other familiar objects. Now shove your head into those realities.

That's Katrín Sigurdardóttir in a nutshell.

duchamp