Hrafnhildur Arnardottir/Shoplifter, Portrait of a thought, 2017. © the artist, image credit: Joseph Warren
b. 1969, Iceland; lives and works in New York
Shoplifter's work explores the use and symbolic nature of hair, and its visual and artistic potential. She uses traditional handcraft techniques like crocheting, weaving and braiding to create new forms of textiles, while referring to established methods in art. She is attracted to the playfulness found in Pop art, folk art, the naif, and handicraft, all of which strongly influence her organic process of creating work.
She has been awarded the Nordic Award in Textiles (2015), and took part in the 2015 Nordic Biennial. Shoplifter has produced commissioned work for Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (2016), and a clothing collection for '& other stories.' In 2008, her large-scale installation of brightly coloured synthetic hair filled the window of MoMA, New York, in collaboration with assume vivid astro focus. In 2017 she had a commission for the LA Philharmonic for their Reykjavik Festival, and was part of the group show Entangled: Threads and Making at Turner Contemporary, Margate.
She has been awarded the Nordic Award in Textiles (2015), and took part in the 2015 Nordic Biennial. Shoplifter has produced commissioned work for Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (2016), and a clothing collection for '& other stories.' In 2008, her large-scale installation of brightly coloured synthetic hair filled the window of MoMA, New York, in collaboration with assume vivid astro focus. In 2017 she had a commission for the LA Philharmonic for their Reykjavik Festival, and was part of the group show Entangled: Threads and Making at Turner Contemporary, Margate.