Fathoms
SHOPLIFTER (Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir, born in Reykjavik) is an Icelandic contemporary artist based in New York, best known for her work made with synthetic and natural hair, whose sculptures, wall murals, and site-specific installations explore themes of vanity, self-image, natural science, beauty, and popular myth. She represented Iceland at the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019 with Chromo Sapiens, a multi-sensory large-scale installation, and has had solo exhibitions at ARoS Art Museum, Kiasma, the Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Her work is continuously presented at Höfuðstöðin, the art center she co-founded in Reykjavik.
Site-specific installation, synthetic hair, rope
Fathoms is a site-specific installation of cascading floating sculptures made with synthetic hair that creates a hypernatural forest for visitors to move through, touch, and embrace. The work takes its name from the Icelandic word faðmur, meaning both a unit of depth measured by the body and the act of holding someone close, merging organic and synthetic elements into a direct sensory communication between visitor and artwork.
