Katrín Sigurdardóttir

Conceptually, her work reflects issues of intimacy and memory in built spaces, historical recreations, and disorienting shifts in scale. Her work has appeared at the 2013 Icelandic Pavilion of the 55th Venice Biennale, the 33rd São Paulo Bienal, in 2018, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sculpture Center, and PS1 Contemporary Art Center.

• Name — Katrín Sigurdardóttir • Born — 1967 • Birthplace — Reykjavík Katrín Sigurdardóttir (born 1967 in Reykjavík, Iceland) is a New York-based artist who works in installation and sculpture. Katrin studied at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts, Reykjavík and received a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and her MFA from the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. She creates complex structures built to be viewed in exhibition settings but not used as functional architecture. Conceptually, her work reflects issues of intimacy and memory in built spaces, historical recreations, and disorienting shifts in scale. Her work has appeared at the 2013 Icelandic Pavilion of the 55th Venice Biennale, the 33rd São Paulo Bienal, in 2018, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sculpture Center, and PS1 Contemporary Art Center.

Katrín grew up in Reykjavík in a two-story rowhouse built by her family. She came to the US to study at the San Francisco Institute of Art, from which she received a BFA, and then later settled in New York City. She holds a unique position among Icelandic artists, particularly in terms of her diverse sculptures and installations that are based on a strong conceptual foundation.” Her piece "Foundation" featured prominently in Iceland's pavilion at the Venice Biennale. It has since been exhibited at many venues, including New York's SculptureCenter. Karen Rosenberg, in the New York Times, writes, "With 'Foundation,' Ms. Sigurdardottir is also moving deeper into the decorative arts — abandoning the all-white set pieces exemplified by her 2010 set of installations in the Metropolitan Museum’s period rooms. Instead of building ghostly models that riff on existing architecture, she is making something that looks historically authentic (at least to the casual observer) and is steeped in artisanal labor."