Sun Cycle

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2026
Billboard, Y-gallery, Reykjavík Art Museum, Reykjavík, Iceland

Artwork on all billboard signs in Reykjavík area 1.-3. January 2026. The work is now a part of the collection of Reykjavík Art Museum.

The work consisted of 1440 images.

In contemporary society, we spend much of our time looking at screens that constantly compete for our attention and distance us from the present moment. Screens intensify color and sensation, often making reality feel less vivid by comparison. I have often found myself viewing the sky through my phone instead of experiencing it directly.

The colors in this work are all derived from photographs of the Icelandic sky taken over many years. Iceland’s unique position on the globe produces highly varied light across seasons and times of day. The work is inspired by these shifts in natural light and by the ancient Icelandic time system Eyktir, which divided the day into eight periods before mechanical clocks existed.

By mapping sky colors across different times of day and seasons, the work allows the viewer to experience the sky’s full annual cycle in one place. The visuals change continuously, minute by minute, like a contemporary clock - though the changes are so subtle they are only noticed through stillness and prolonged attention. The work encourages mindfulness, hope, and an awareness of natural cycles.

At the center of the screen is a sphere that connects cosmic cycles with the microscopic world of the cell. Human cells follow a roughly 24-hour renewal cycle aligned with the circadian rhythm, governed by light and darkness. In modern life, artificial light and screens disrupt this balance, keeping the body in a constant state of “midday.”

The work Sólarhringur /Sun Cycle proposes a new relationship between technology, humans, and nature by imagining screens that follow the rhythm of daylight. The digital screen becomes a solar clock, reflecting the shared cycle of the sky, the cell, and life itself - uniting the smallest and largest scales in one continuous rhythm.

Completing one full cycle marks both a day and a year.