Katrín Elvarsdóttir Iceland, b. 1964

Katrín Elvarsdóttir studied fine arts and photography in the United States. Her photographic works tell fragmented narratives of an ambiguous nature, often engaging with ideas of collective memory. They serve as placeholders for enigmatic events in which the viewer inadvertently becomes a participant, a story half-realized, half-imagined.

Her work might best be described as suggestive, residing in a realm of unscripted, imagined timelessness. Employing cinematic methods, soft focus, and chiaroscuro, Elvarsdóttir continues to forgo photography’s conventional documentary use, instead exploring the medium itself,  its processes, materiality, and potential for contemporary image-making and aesthetic expression.

Her works have been exhibited internationally at institutions such as the Reykjavík Art Museum and the National Gallery of Iceland, Forum Box in Helsinki, the Museum of Photography in Seoul, Martin Asbæk Gallery in Copenhagen, and Frankfurter Kunstverein in Frankfurt. She has received and been nominated for numerous prestigious awards, including the EIKON Award in Vienna  under the patronage of feminist icon Valie Export. In 2008, Elvarsdóttir was nominated for the Deutsche Börse Award, and in 2009 she received the Ridgefield Guild of Artists Award.