Nína Óskarsdóttir is an artist born in Reykjavík, Iceland and now based in Newark-on-Trent. She has a BA degree in Fine Arts from The Iceland Academy of the Arts and has also studied in Universität der Künste in Berlin. She is currently one of two fellows in Leicester Print Workshop’s postgraduate stone lithography programme. Nína has exhibited in Leicester and also in Berlin and Iceland at Reykjavík Museum of Art, Listasafn ASÍ and Ekkisens to name a few.
Describe your art practice for us
I am a mixed media artist and have worked primarily with videos, installations, performances and prints. I am currently learning how to do Stone Lithography at Leicester Print Workshop and so printmaking is dominating my art practice at the moment. I like mixing different medium and methods together, exploring a new way to use techniques, at least new for me. I often sway between working on more emotional and personal subjects and focusing outwards, reflecting on social and political interests.
How long have you been practising?
I graduated from art school in 2014 and so I guess I have officially been practicing since then. Probably like most artists though I have been making art since I was a child although it hasn’t always been with the same commitment as it has been for the last few years.
What is the most interesting/inspiring thing you have seen/been to over the last month, and why?
I have been traveling a bit lately and saw an exhibition with Berlinde de Bruyckere in the National Gallery of Iceland. She makes amazing sculptures that I really, really love. Her art is a bit morbid and gives you a rush of emotions, her use of material is fascinating and very intimate in a way. I also just saw László Maholy-Nagy at the Guggenheim, a big retrospective exhibition that was very impressive. He has huge body of work that really show his progression and dedication, it always inspires me to see artists that have worked so much in their lifetime.
Which other artists’ work do you admire, and why?
At the moment I am completely smitten with Matisse. It’s funny because I never really used to like painting but I am increasingly enjoying it more and more. Through my lithography practice I am discovering a new visual realm within the artworld. There is a painter I discovered recently, Charlotte Salomon, something about her paintings and her story really touched a nerve with me. The dedication of an artist is what inspires me most, when I see artists that have worked day and night under difficult circumstances, like Charlotte, I think “Respect!”.
Where can people see your work?
At the moment I have work up in Leicester Print Workshop’s exhibition Small Print International which is currently in Attenborough Art Centre in Leicester. The exhibition will later tour a few location in the country. In September I will be exhibiting in Leicester with a few other Icelandic artists in the Two Queens project space, it will be a short exhibition but surely worth a look if you are in the area. My website is also a good archive of my previous work.
Nina was interviewed in June 2016.
All the photographs were taken by the artist.