Katrín Inga Iceland, b. 1983

Katrín Inga works across the full spectrum of contemporary media. Her practice centers on systemic structures and the shifting values around love and sexuality, reframing them within a culture in which critical reflection is part of daily life. For her, art and affection share a common role: they offer ways to break through the continuous cycle of political and cultural conflict.

Katrín Inga Jónsdóttir Hjördísardóttir’s work examines intimacy, desire, and therapeutic self-expression, with a particular focus on how these themes expose and unsettle patriarchal frameworks that shape both the art world and society more broadly. Her practice draws from feminist aesthetics, continental philosophy, fluxus legacies, and the material traditions of Icelandic land-based art. She has presented numerous solo exhibitions across Iceland, Europe, and the United States, positioning her as a leading voice within Iceland’s contemporary post-fluxus feminist avant-garde. (Dr. Erum Naqvi, Art Theorist, 2021)

Her exhibitions and performance works reveal a wide-ranging, international practice. While gender and women’s experiences frequently come to the fore, her approach opens onto broader conversations within art history and theory. The tone of her work is both incisive and subtly humorous. Complex ideas become accessible, leaving audiences reflective yet often smiling. (Jón Proppé, Art Historian, 2018)

Katrín Inga has received numerous distinctions, including a Fulbright Scholarship (2012), the Dungal Art Fund Award (2012), the Guðmunda Andrésdóttir Scholarship (2013), the Icelandic Art Salary from the Government of Iceland (2015/2017), and the Svavar Guðnason & Ásta Eiríksdóttir Foundation Art Prize for Young Icelandic Artists (2017). She holds an MFA from the School of Visual Arts, New York (2014), a BA in Art History and Theory from the University of Iceland (2012), and a BA in Fine Art from the Iceland Academy of the Arts (2008).

Her work has been shown internationally at institutions such as the Living Art Museum, Reykjavík (2013); Reykjavík Art Museum (2022); High Line Art, New York (2017); Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz (2015); and the XVII Biennial of Young Artists, Mediterranea17, Milan (2015). Katrín Inga is a board member of the Reykjavík Association of Sculptors (2018–) and was featured in Isle of Art (2019), a publication highlighting contemporary Icelandic art.

She has collaborated with numerous artists and collectives, including the performance group It’s The Media Not You!(2015–2022), and has played a key role in establishing several artist-run initiatives. She currently directs the multi-complex art space Phenomenon in Reykjavík (2022–).