Design & Art

I was born in Iceland in 1981. I grew up in a small town by the ocean in the southwest of Iceland. I come from a family of musicians so at age five I started my music career playing the recorder and later the piano and violin. I loved music and still do but my love for unique objects was stronger. I started collecting everything I could get my hands on from napkins to erasers. If I got a piece of candy in nice packaging, I would keep it for years just because it looked nice. All these little things I collected were my jewels and I still have most of them today.

I always knew I wanted to create something but product design first came to mind at a show in Reykjavik ‘99 featuring Mark Newson, Jasper Morisson and Michael Young. I figured I could be creating my own precious objects that would hopefully affect other people in the same way my collections of things affected me.

In 2002 I applied for a place at the 3D department at The Iceland Academy of Arts and got in. Although the department was pretty new and undeveloped at that time, we had some amazing teachers and interesting classes. The Academy is where I met my husband Ragnar Freyr who is a graphic designer and designed this website for me.

After finishing my BA degree in 2005 I took some time off to decide what to do next. At that time me and my husband opened up a web store under the name of Friday Fans selling hand made goods. Although the store has been taken down we still work together under the same name. The summer of 2005 I also joined the design studio Front (Reykjavik) formed by my husband and my good friend Ólafur Ómarsson.

Today I live in Michigan with my husband and my Pug Panda. Shortly I'll be finishing my Masters degree at Cranbrook Academy of Arts, an amazing place with an incredible history. It is truly an honor to be working in the same studios as Eames and Saarinen did around 70 years back. The future is pretty much unplanned for me and my husband. We don't know where we will end up next but time will tell.

Studies

2001 Graduated from Fjölbrautaskóli Suðurnesja with a degree in Psychology and Sociology.
2002-2005 BA degree in Product design from Iceland Academy of Arts.
2006-2008 MA degree in 3D design from Cranbrook Academy of Arts.

Work

2005 Started Friday Fans with Ragnar Freyr Pálsson.
2005 Member of Front design studio (Reykjavík)

Exhibitions

Group
2003 Garden furniture show at Húsasmiðjan, Reykjavík.
2003 Design/Marketing show, Hafnarhúsið, Reykjavík.
2004 Democratic Design, Gallery Hlemmur, Reykjavík
2004 Past/Present, Klink og Bank, Reykjavík.
2005 Graduation show, Kjarvalsstaðir, Reykjavík
2005 Brum, Iceland Design Week, Laugardalshöll, Reykjavík.
2006 Drawing on the Environment, Forum Gallery, Cranbrook Academy of Arts.
2006 Light show, Forum Gallery, Cranbrook Adacemy of Arts.
2006 Chair show, Forum Gallery, Cranbrook Academy of Arts.
2006 Chair show, Bob’s classic kicks, Detroit.
2007 Light show, Forum Gallery, Cranbrook Academy of Arts.
2008 Design Democracy '08, ICFF.

Solo
2005 Handmade plush, Aurum jewelry shop, Reykjavík.

Awards

2003 Finalist in Garden furniture contest for Húsasmiðjan, Iceland.
2006 Spring Spruce up winner, DesignSponge.
2007, Finalist in cooperation with Ragnar Freyr, Love your Earth Competition, DesignBoom.
2008, Finalist, Design Democracy '08, Context Furniture.

Featured

Books
Celebrating what's different
Hönnun, Auðlind til Framtíðar

Magazines and Newspapers
Creative Review, Icon, ReadyMade, Húsasmiðjan Magazine, Hús og Híbýli, Iceland Review, Atlantica, Morgunblaðið, Fréttablaðið and two Russian magazines which names I don't know how to type.

Web
www.mocoloco.com, www.treehugger.com, www.designsponge.blogspot.com, www.designboom.com, www.idfuel.com, www.we-make-money-not-art.com, www.coudal.com, www.landliving.com, www.domestikalien.com.