Valgerdur Hauksdottir

Artwork

My works are often large installation/prints, at times on both sides of transparent Japan paper, but also smaller scale mostly on paper.

The subject matter is consistently influenced by the laws of nature, the beauty / cruelty to be found everywhere in the environment, as well as by the effect the surroundings have on each individual and on entire civilizations throughout the millennia. Recurrent themes and questions raised may be related to those of natural scientists or philosophers who contemplate the properties of matter, cause and effect, our limitations in comprehending our surroundings and our approach to understanding concepts such as light, time, rhythm and pulse – principles found throughout our environment. In this way my artwork should be viewed as an artist’s perspective and interpretation of the surroundings, not limited to own life but embracing generations of all times, obscuring the definition of a beginning and an end but always with ultimate respect for the laws of nature and the environment.

Project

In 2002 I founded the company VIA Ltd. (www.via-art.com). Since 2015 the aim of my work at VIA-art has been to conduct research and educate others in non-toxic and sustainable methods of fine art printmaking. In this regards I am in the process of researching and changing my working methods in fine art printmaking towards using the least harmful materials which will neither harm the health of artists nor the environment.

Biography

Valgerdur Hauksdottir is an Icelandic artist / printmaker who has been professionally active for over 30 years. She holds a Masters of Fine Arts degree in fine art printmaking (lithography and etching) from the University of Illinois – Champaign / Urbana, Illinois and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of New Mexico – Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

Hauksdottir’s academic experience include serving on the faculty of the Icelandic College of Art and Crafts, later the Visual Art Department at the Iceland University of the Arts (1984 – 2003), e.g., as Head of Printmaking department, Vice Principal of the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and as the founder / co-coordinator of PA&R, Printmaking, Art and Research, a co-operative and experimental printmaking programme between five European Art Institutions at Masters level (1994 – 2000). Hauksdottir has been a guest faculty and artist at number of art institutions and universities in Scandinavia, Europe and the United States. Her latest guest faculty position was as a Visiting Assistant Professor (2010 – 2012) in printmaking at Indiana University, Bloomington, Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts, Indiana, USA.

In 2002 Hauksdottir founded the company VIA Ltd. (www.via-art.com). Since 2015 the aim of Hauksdottir’s work at VIA-art has been to conduct research and educate others in non-toxic and sustainable methods of fine art printmaking.

Hauksdottir has completed numerous solo and invitational group exhibitions. Her largest solo exhibitions have taken place in Iceland, Denmark, Estonia, France, Holland, Scotland, Sweden, and the United States. Her works have been selected in over sixty exhibitions in most of the European countries as well as in Africa, China, India, Japan, Korea, Canada and the United States. Hauksdottir’s works are in public and private collections in Europe and the United States, e.g., the National Gallery of Iceland, The City Art Museum of Reykjavik, Iceland, Alvar Alto Museum, Finland, Grafikens Hus, Mariefred, Sweden, Södertälje Konsthall, Sweden, Université de Caen, France, Intergrafik, Germany, The Art Museum of Grado and Catania, Italy, Colorado College, the Universities of Florida, Nevada, Texas, Utah and a number of other art museums and institutions.

Honours and awards include being the recipient of the main artist stipend of the Government of Iceland for the duration of 18 months (2016 – 2018), nomination as one of ten Nordic artists for the Nordic Queen Sonja Art Award (2014), a Fulbright Visiting Scholar, receiving awards from The Masters of Graphic Arts in Hungary and The Egyptian International Print Triennial, as artist in residencies at the Nordic ateliers in Finland and Denmark, the Scandinavian Foundation – Rome, Italy, in Cité International des Arts – Paris, France, as well as at several universities in the United States. Hauksdottir’s artwork is represented in, e.g. the books Printmaking: A Contemporary Perspective (2010) by Paul Coldwell and Printmaking at the Edge (2006) by Richard Noyce.