Áningarstaður/ Overlook
2022
Spor og þræðir/Stitches and threads - Reykjavik Art Museum, Kjarvalsstaðir
A few decades ago, the so-called “slide chair” could be found in the homes of most craft women in the country. The unwritten rule about this kind of chair was that it was not for sitting on, it was purely meant for display. This chair was often the masterpiece of the lady of the house, on the border between art and utility item, positioned in a good place. The embroidery was usually very grand and flowers the most common subject. In her work Áningarstaður (Overlook), Agnes Ársælsdóttir seeks inspiration in the imagery of science and decorates her slide chair abundantly with plant cell organs, including the nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum and vacuole, as well as chloroplast. She views flower patterns in embroidery as yet another manifestation of man’s desire to connect to nature and bring it into the home. By using plant cells for her images, she avoids choosing one species over another, instead they all appear in their smallest unit, the common denominator for all plants.
Text from exhibition catalogue, written by curator Birkir Karlsson.
