Recipient of the 5th Elfi von Kantzow Alvin Art Award
Portrait by Anna Maggy
Shoplifter / Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir is an Icelandic contemporary artist, born in Reykjavik in 1969 and based in NY. Shoplifter is best known for her work made primarily with both synthetic and natural hair and her sculptures, wall murals and site-specific installations explore themes of vanity, self-image, natural science, beauty and popular myth.
Most recently her work has taken a brand new direction as she explores her artistic expression working in handblown glass, resulting in a new body of work in the wake of her artist residency at The Pilchuck School of Glass in WA, USA in 2022 and continues with her most recent creative output at The Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY in September of 2025.
Shoplifter represented Iceland at the Venice Biennale in 2019 and her multi-sensory large scale installation Chromo Sapiens opened at the Icelandic Pavilion at the 58th La Biennale di Venezia in Italy in May 2019. The installation later traveled to Iceland, opening at the Reykjavik Art Museum in January 2020. Pilchuck School of Glass invited Shoplifter for Artist in Residence in 2022 that started her on the path to working on a new body of glass artwork combining organic glass shapes and fibers to make otherworldly curiosities. Most recently her glass work was exhibited at The Armory Art Fair 2024 in a solo presentation with the New York based gallery New Discretions and her 11th version of her Nervescape series of immersive installations made with synthetic colorful hair in the 5000 square feet / 464,5 square meter gallery at The Hilliard Museum of Art that just opened in September 2025 in Lafayette, LA, USA and will be on display through August 2026 with various educational programs and events scheduled throughout the exhibition period.
Other recent work includes solo exhibitions at Kai Art Center, Tallinn, Estonia (2023), ARoS Art Museum, Aarhus, Denmark (2021), Nordatlantens Brygge, Copenhagen, Denmark (2021), Á Kleifum, Hrútey, Iceland (2021), Kulturhuset Stadsteatern in Stockholm, Sweden (2020), The Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia (2020), Kiasma, the Finnish National Gallery (2019), the National Gallery of Iceland (2017), the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles (2017) and the Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art in Australia (2016). Notable projects and awards beyond her Iceland representation at the Venice Biennale of in 2019 include her large window installation created in collaboration with art collective avaf (assume vivid astro focus) for MoMA, Museum of Modern Art in New York (2008), The Nordic Award in Textiles and The Prince Eugen Medal for artistic achievement from the King and Royal Crown of Sweden (2011).
Shoplifter is the co-founder of Höfuðstöðin, an art center in Reykjavik, Iceland, where her installation Chromo Sapiens is on continuous display. Höfuðstöðin also features a café, bar, design shop and an event venue, celebrating human connection through art and creativity.
Website: shoplifterart.com
Learn more about the Elfi von Kantzow Alvin Art Award here.
Installation at Hilliard Art Museum Louisiana September 2025