Artist Anna Jóelsdóttir uses her art to make sense of two separate worlds – her native Iceland and America.

“The process of doing art helps me bridge the gap between the worlds I live in,” she said. “It keeps me grounded and sane. I’m in a constant dialogue to connect those two worlds -my family is there [Iceland] and I’m here.”

Jóelsdóttir said she tries to capture the landscape of the mind, while she thinks of Iceland.

Her exhibit, titled “Stone Black Heart Murmur,” is on display in the Tarble Arts Center from now until Oct. 9.

A non-traditional art style

Unlike the traditional one-dimensional paintings, Jóelsdóttir’s art is bendable, foldable, twistable and formable.

“I think of theseas paintings — paintings that I have folded and molded and curved into 3-D space,” she said. “I think of them as paintings that happen to use the 3-D space that our bodies use.”

Jóelsdóttir’s Eastern exhibit is her fourth attempt at this art style, which she said she is still learning what she can do along those lines.

“Sometimes, I like to see what I can do to make my paintings curve, and use up more of the space provided for them,” Jóelsdóttir said.

In her exhibit in Tarble, Jóelsdóttir’s paintings hang in the air, stick out of the walls and even climb into the light fixtures.

Her work resembles a shattered mix of colors, lines and forms – like hundreds of thoughts stretched across a sheet of paper.

Insight into her exhibition

Mike Watts, director of Tarble Arts Center, said the exhibition is called an installation.

“This is an art exhibition where, in most cases, the artist creates an environment in the gallery,” he said.

Instead of having individual paintings or sculptures arranged in the gallery, the artist intentionally adapts the art to the gallery being used, Watts said.

Because of this, no two installations would ever be the same.

In an installation, Watts saidthe viewer gets surrounded by the art elements, which creates a different effect than when the viewer looks at individual paintings or sculpture.

“So how you experience the art is more individualized based on how you move through the installation environment, what angles you look at things, the sequence you see things, and so on,” he said.

Watts suggested viewing Jóelsdóttir’s exhibit with an open mind.

“Jóelsdóttir’s art is abstract, which means that the viewer is left to find his or her own meaning in the work,” he said.

Jóelsdóttir had particular thoughts and emotions in mind when she did her mylar paintings, but she wants each viewer to find his or her own story, not try to read or figure out her story.

The choice to bring Jóelsdóttir’s abstract art was an opportunity to bring something new to Eastern, Watts said.

“Her nationality gives different perspective, her medium is new, and the way she uses this medium is new,” he said. “The medium is mylar sheeting on which she has painted and drawn out the way her mind process a life fractured by geography.”

Jóelsdóttir comes to Eastern as part of the New and Emerging Artists series program co-sponsored with the Doudna Fine Arts Center and the art department.?

Tarble Arts Center hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday and closed Mondays and holidays.

James Roedl can be reached at 581-7942 or at Dennewsdesk@gmail.com.

The Anna Jóelsdóttir: “Stone Black Heart Murmur” exhibit will be in Tarble Art Center through Oct. 9. (Audrey Sawyer/The Daily Eastern News)

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