Katrín Inga

Photon sensations in linear empty space = vacuum

Katrín Inga Jónsdóttir Hjördísardóttir is a visual artist living and working in Reykjavík. She works across mediums, with her practice examining social structures and value systems, drawing attention to systemic phenomena that often take center stage in her visual philosophy. The purpose of art and love plays a significant role in her creative process, which seeks to disrupt cycles of political and cultural conflict.

Light is one of the fundamental phenomena of the universe. It is attractive from all directions, and its meaning is nearly infinite, often associated with hope, consciousness, and positive states. Light always travels and finds its way, whether we perceive it or not. In a similar way, our emotions move; they are not always visible, not always controllable, yet they are real and influential. Highly abstract.

The light in the works of the exhibition is placed in relation to emotions, intuition, and perception. An attempt to make the invisible tangible: the energy, the vibration, the state between us. In quantum physics, light is both a wave and a particle—a duality that challenges conventional understandings of reality. In the same way, emotion is both subjective and material; it shapes behavior, decisions, and the space between us.

The works reflect the idea that everything is interconnected and that our perception is an active participant in what comes into being. Here reference is made to Karen Barad’s concept of Agential Realism, in which the world is not a collection of separate entities but a process of relations and interactions. Reality emerges through the act itself.

The sculptures are made of metal and 360° neon LED light tubes. They form abstract, linear drawings in space—something between bas-reliefs, wall works, and wall-mounted sculptures—where the light does not merely draw form, but a state within an abstract emotional context.

Gratitude to the light. Gratitude to emotions. Spatial gratitude.

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Katrín Inga holds an MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York (2014), a BA in Art Theory and Creative Writing from the University of Iceland (2012), and a BA in Fine Arts from the Iceland University of the Arts (2008).

She has received numerous awards, including a Fulbright Grant (2012–2014), the Guðmunda Andrésdóttir Grant (2013), the Dungal Recognition Award (2012), and the Svavar Guðnason & Ásta Eiríksdóttir Award (2017). She has held numerous solo exhibitions, including at Gallery Gudmundsdottir, Berlin; The Living Art Museum, Reykjavík; Ekkisens, Reykjavík; and Gallery Donnerstag, Berlin. She has participated in over one hundred group exhibitions, including at High Line Art, New York; Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein; the XVII Biennial of Young Artists, Milan; the National Gallery of Iceland; Reykjavík Art Museum; Reykjanes Art Museum; The Living Art Museum; and the gallery Kling & Bang.

Katrín Inga has also taken part in various art festivals, such as the Reykjavík Arts Festival and Raflost, and has created works in public spaces, including commissions for Akureyri Museum, Plan B in Borgarnes and The Wheel, for the Reykjavík Sculpture Association. She has contributed to numerous collaborative projects, including It Is the Media Not You!, the publication of the magazine Endemi, and performance events hosted by Ofar Mannlegum Hvötum. She has also participated in international residencies, including at Cité des Arts in Paris. Her works are held in the collections of the National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavík Art Museum, and The Living Art Museum.