REYKJAVÍK.- i8 presents Afterimage, a solo exhibition by Arna Óttarsdóttir that inaugurates i8’s newly renovated gallery space at Tryggvagata 16 in Reykjavík. The show, Óttarsdóttir’s third with i8, will open with a reception for the artist from 5–7 on 9 July and be on view until 29 August 2026.

For Afterimage, Óttarsdóttir has created three major new weavings in her largest scale to date. These works expand the artist’s exploration of color, texture, shape, and composition, while maintaining her dedication to handmaking and exploration of personal influences.

Throughout this exhibition, several dualities emerge, including the presentation of works inspired by the dark harshness of winter during the bright, long light of summer. The palette of Óttarsdóttir’s new tapestries is heavier and deeper than any of her prior weavings. While the warp, the vertical threads that form the structure of a textile, in her works is typically undyed, these new weavings have a dark warp, which further emphasizes the enveloping nightfall that is characteristic of Icelandic winters.

Additionally, there exists a contradiction in technique by using a digital method to make works that are handmade. Óttarsdóttir weaves on looms in her Reykjavík studio, taking compositional inspiration from her own sketches and notes. She isolates pages of her journal, the proportions of which are reflected in her vertical weavings, then scans them, and manipulates the composition through a series of redactions on her computer. She then weaves the works completely by hand, interlacing the wool, cotton, linen, and silk according to her carefully planned template.





While there is typically a balance between abstraction and figuration in Óttarsdóttir’s weavings, this body of work breaks apart the image further than usual. The sketches that inform her compositions become less recognizable, and the dramatic scale and richly dyed materials highlight the intangibility of the original notebook page in the final work.

Arna Óttarsdóttir (b. 1986) lives and works in Reykjavík, Iceland. Her work was featured in Time and Time Again at Hafnarborg (2024), Kaleidoscope: Icelandic 21st Century Art (2023), and Iðavöllur: Icelandic Art in the 21st Century (2021) at the Reykjavík Art Museum. Óttarsdóttir had a solo exhibition, Everything is great, at the Living Art Museum in Reykjavík in 2019. Her work has been exhibited internationally at exhibitions including Nordatlantens Brygge, Copenhagen; Turner Contemporary, Margate; Åplus, Berlin; and Cecilia Hillström Gallery, Stockholm.