Hauksdottir

Hauksdottir

Place of origin: Reykjavik, Iceland
Resident of: Reykjavik, Iceland
Position: Artist/ printmaker. Academic position: Coordinator of PA&R in
Iceland /Coordinator for the PA&R Curriculum Development.
Instructor of printmaking at the Icelandic College of Art and Crafts.
Organizers /teachers for the PA&R Web site and Distance Course

Background
I graduated with an MFA degree in fine art (printmaking) in 1983 from the University of
Illinois, Champaign -Urbana after completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in fine art and
music from University of New Mexico, Albuquerqy in 1981. My background in the arts
is based on previous education in music and the natural sciences. Within those areas
my particular interests have been geology and contemporary as well as classical music.

As a student in New Mexico the field of fine art printmaking was introduced to me by
some of the more knowledgeable people in the field. The stimulating printmaking
environment of Tamarind Art Institute and the University of New Mexico influenced
my decision to study printmaking, but by no means did that decision exclude my general
interest for other methods of artistic expression.

Upon completing the Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Illinois I returned to
Iceland where I soon began teaching in the printmaking department of the Icelandic
College of Art and Crafts. From 1987 until 1994 I served as the Head of the printmaking
department and as the Vice Principal at the same institution in 1994-95. I resigned my
position as Head of the department of printmaking in order to have more time for my own
artwork and to devote my energy into special projects of interest in the academic area
such as founding the PA&R programme. Since I entered the field of the arts my
time has frequently been equally devoted to the academic area of the arts as well as
being a practising artist.

Reason for being in the art field
The conscious decision to become an artist was not a simple or an easy one to make.
Although always interested in the arts, other areas were and are of just as much
importance, particularly in the field of natural sciences (geology), and other areas
such as philosophy and music. It was not until I felt that I was able to use the art field
as a way of combining diverse issues that the decision rested at ease. Today the art
field has made it in one way possible for me to continue rather than abandon fields of
interests. in such a way the art has become an unifying aspect that enables me to bring
together diversities which at first glance might seem far away from one another, but
when examined more closely are as several sides of the same questions being raised.
Questions of existence and evolution. In my work I have attempted to capture subtleties
of controversies and multiple experiences on diverse levels. At present my decision to
become an artist can be described by the following:

Attaining to capture the moment of multiplicity
To view the picture plane as a veil between the real and the elusive, the
tangible and the invisible.
Homage to nature, guided by infinite respect for its laws
An ode to the past and to the present where moments of interaction between man,
mind and nature occur
Thought fields, thought forms, based on ancient symbols, old yet aged only a
fraction of earth's time span
To aim at creating a balance between the complementary forces of an
ever- changing world, between the ancient and the new, between man and
his environment. So that each may possibly find a place of own existence or
is nearer and understanding of its essence.