Flow
Hafdís Helgadóttir

In this exhibition, the artist presents eight differently composed works, each consisting of geometric images with grains of sand on paper, small lumps of loose sand, as well as photos and drawings. The works refer to a real area in the southern Westfjords, where specimens of sand were collected from 8 separate locations and used to make new works specifically as a contribution to “Umhverfing 4”, a project which comprised several exhibitions and took place all over the Westfjords and West Iceland in the summer of 2022; the participating artists all had some connection to the region. The images made of sand are modelled on an ancient style of Arabic script known as Kufic square. Here, they represent the names of the places from which the sand was collected. The idea to use “Kufic squares” was inspired by a workshop on sacred geometry, which the artist attended in Morocco in 2017 under the guidance of local teachers and craftsmen. This involves the notion of a flow of influences between cultures as well as the flow of currents from one coastal region to another. In Arabic culture, Sacred Geometry is fundamental to architectural decoration, arts and crafts, and it is an age-old tradition that still lives on.
Artist: Hafdís Helgadóttir