ABOUT -
ABOUT -
The work of artist Þórdís Erla Zoëga explores the intersection of material research, digital aesthetics, and contemporary forms of intimacy and connection. Born in 1988, Zoëga studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, graduating in 2012 from the audiovisual department. She later completed a diploma in Web Development at Tækniskólinn in Reykjavík (2015–2017), expanding her practice through technical and digital methodologies.
Since 2012, Zoëga has exhibited widely in Iceland and internationally, with exhibitions and projects presented in Reykjavík, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Berlin, Basel, the Czech Republic and beyond. In Iceland, her work has been shown at Reykjavík Art Museum, the National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavík Arts Festival, Gerðarsafn Kópavogur Art Museum, Akureyri Art Museum, LÁ Art Museum and other major institutions and venues. She is represented by BERG Contemporary in Iceland and SPECTA Gallery in Denmark.
Working across installations, sculpture, painting, and video, Zoëga’s practice investigates post-humanism, science fiction, and the effects of man-made materials on human perception and behaviour within capitalist and technologically mediated environments. Through an ongoing engagement with inorganic materials, most notably dichroic film, her work dissects the visual language of digital culture, revealing systems of interaction, repetition, and intimacy embedded in everyday life.
Zoëga’s practice includes a substantial body of public works and site-specific commissions. Notable projects include Daily Shift (2019) at Konsúlat Hotel, Reykjavík; Litaveita / Hue Supply (2022) at Grótta, Seltjarnarnes; NO PARKING RUG (2021) at Canopy Hilton Hotel, Reykjavík . In 2023, she was selected as the winner of a major new public artwork for the New National Hospital of Iceland, including a large-scale commission for its main entrance, realised in 2028. Additional public works are in process for a large scale building complex in Iceland and a water tower for FORTUM in Espoo, Finland.
Zoëga’s work is held in public collections including Reykjavík Art Museum, the National Gallery of Iceland, LÁ Art Museum, and EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Finland. Zoëga has participated in artist residencies at Gerðarsafn (Kópavogur), Kunstschlager / Culturescapes (Basel), and the European Exchange Academy (Beelitz, Germany).
Zoëga has received numerous grants and awards in support of her practice, including multiple Icelandic Art Fund and Artists’ Salary awards, travelling grants, and project-based funding.
In 2022, she was appointed honorary artist of Seltjarnarnes, and in 2017 she was nominated for Costume Design of the Year at the Icelandic GRÍMAN Theatre Awards for her work with the Icelandic Dance Company. In 2023, she was awarded the commission for a new permanent public artwork for the New National Hospital of Iceland.
Alongside her exhibition practice, Zoëga has worked extensively with scenography, costume design and interdisciplinary collaborations across visual art, architecture, performance and design. Major design collaboration include BIO EFFECT and The Blue Lagoon. Her projects frequently blur boundaries between physical space and digital logic, proposing environments that reflect contemporary rituals, routines, and systems of meaning.
Þórdís Erla Zoëga lives and works in Reykjavík, Iceland.