About the Artist
A printmaker, ceramic artist, and educator, Inga Torfadottir has based her artistic practice in Winnipeg, Manitoba, for over 25 years, after immigrating with her family from Iceland in 1976. She studied Fine Arts at the Icelandic College of Arts and Design and Reykjavik College of Fine Art from 1968-72 before pursuing a career as a ceramic artist and instructor at the Stoneware Studio in Winnipeg.
Since becoming a member of Manitoba Printmakers Association in 2000, she has conducted workshops and taught courses on various methods of printmaking at the Martha Street Studio in Winnipeg. Although her preferred method is monoprinting, she also uses a variety of other techniques such as linocut and copper etching. Her inspiration is derived from her lifelong observation and love of nature as well as her deep-rooted interest in Norse mythology.
Her work can be found in many private and public collections including the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Governments of Manitoba, North Korea, and Iceland. She has exhibited her artwork extensively both nationally and internationally since 1987. Her prints are available through the Martha Street Studio in Winnipeg and Gallery 11 in Reykjavik.
Artistic Statement
“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.”
“My work is about the observation of subtleties in the natural world around us – the interdependence and balance between emergence and disappearance of positive and negative space as they play on one another’s existence.
In a world where life is fragile and impermanent, the accidental, the overlooked and the underestimated take on an unexpected importance. Each work emerges from its own energy thereby creating a new territory of being. The layers communicate nuances of expression, defining the unknown through combinations of color, form, and line. Bold and expressive stroke, invention and free spirit convey both simplicity and complexity simultaneously.
Spontaneity and responsiveness to the materials are of essential importance in my work, thereby allowing the control and source of my ideas to be determined more by my feelings than by a rigidly defined framework. As a result, the outcome is more immediate and uncultivated, leaving opportunity for serendipitous expressions. While allowing the medium to dictate its presence and express its own pictorial language, content that creates an emotional connection with the viewer, is a major element in my work”.
