A new exhibition entitled “Sjónabók úr Sudurgötunni” by visual artist Ingibjörg Styrgerdur opens at the National Museum of Iceland today. Sjónabók is an old Icelandic word for pattern books and Sudurgata is a street in the western part of Reykjavík.
In her exhibition the artist displays 27 pictures all based on the same form. Each picture has 144 open squares, some of which are connected with cuts.
“My grandmother often told me that her mother had once exclaimed the most tedious thing she had witnessed was an idle woman,” Styrgerdur described in a press release. “Besides, I always find it nice to be occupied and I’m never bored.”
Styrgerdur explained that her patterns, based on the 144 squares, are something that she has worked on and developed for decades. “I’m constantly connecting and cutting up new patters in various ways. That way almost innumerable patterns have emerged over the years, which I now present in carved paper sheets.”
The exhibition runs through November 30.
