VÍK PRJÓNSDÓTTIR

Vík Prjónsdóttir is inspired by myths and stories, from the past as well from the present. She is fascinated by nature as well as urban life, believes in the beyond and respects the hidden world. Vík Prjónsdóttir has passion for local cultures, materials and production.

Vík Prjónsdóttir was created 2005 by the designers Brynhildur Pálsdóttir, Egill Kalevi Karlsson, Guðfinna Mjöll Magnúsdóttir, Hrafnkell Birgisson, Þuríður Rós Sigurþórsdóttir and the knitting factory Víkurprjón.

Brynhildur Pálsdóttir

Brynhildur Pálsdóttir designer is born 1979 and is based in Reykjavík. She graduated from the Icelandic Arts Academy in 2004 as a product designer, after a successful exchange semester at Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam she went back after graduating and received her second BA degree from the Design Lab department in 2005. After graduation she founded the Designfellowship Borðið in collaboration with Guðfinna Mjöll Magnúsdóttir because of their dual interest in the challenge to work with local material such as food, wool and clay. They get inspiration from a variety of sources, from ancient traditions and fallen heroes to their family and friends. Their main objective as designers is to affect their environment and for their design to be a participant in society. “Stefnumót hönnuða og bænda” (Designers and Farmers), Vík Prjónsdóttir and The Claypot are good examples of just that. Brynhildur has since 2007 worked as a consultant at Matis Icelandic Food and Biotech R&D , working on various product developing projects, she has also taken part in developing studies and teaching at Myndlistaskólinn í Reykjavík.

Egill Kalevi Karlsson

Egill Kalevi Karlsson is an Icelandic artist and designer based in New York.  After receiving his bachelor's degree at the Design Academy in Eindhoven Karlsson worked as a product designer in Rotterdam.  Continuing his interest in the blurred edge between design and visual arts he moved to New York in 2007 where he obtained an MFA from the School of Visual Arts.   His work since explores  the intersection of art and design through an interest in the hidden aura of everyday objects.  Hallucinogenic musings on natural phenomena and visual perception combined with high level of technical skill he takes common objects and recreates them into something new. www.telepatheticworkshop.com

Guðfinna Mjöll Magnúsdóttir

She belives in curiousity as the main drive for creativity and an interest in human behavior underpins her projects. The designer Guðfinna Mjöll Magnúsdóttir is born in Reykjavík 1979. She graduated as a product designer in 2004 from The Iceland Academy of the Arts and made a short stop in Vienna as a guest student at Universitat für Angewandte Kunst. After graduation she founded the Designfellowship Borðið in collaboration with Brynhildur Pálsdóttir because of their dual interest in the challenge to work with local material such as food, wool and clay. They get inspiration from a variety of sources, from ancient traditions and fallen heroes to their family and friends. Their main objective as designers is to affect their environment and for their design to be a participant in society. “Stefnumót hönnuða og bænda” (Designers and Farmers), Vík Prjónsdóttir and The Claypot are good examples of just that. Since 2007 Magnúsdóttir has served as boardmember in various commities and traveled around the country as a lecturer. In winter 2008-2009 Magnúsdóttir was the program director for product design at The Iceland Academy of the Arts.

Hrafnkell Birgisson

Hrafnkell Birgisson was born in Reykjavík in 1969. He graduated as a product designer from the Academy of Fine Arts in Saarbrucken, Germany. His conceptual work covers the fields of product design, exhibition design and interior architecture. His work Hoch die Tassen has become a design classic, displayed in design stores and gallery shops all around the world, while the Tools You Bake baking tins and the ongoing Vik Prjonsdottir knitting-project are examples of self-initiated collaborations with fellow designers and small local manufacturers.

Hrafnkell has developed and tutored courses at the Iceland Academy of the Arts, including the De-Ikea workshop, a series of classes he also tutored at the Bauhaus University in Weimar and at the California College of the Arts, San Francisco. His designs have been published in the International Design Yearbook 2007 and in the book Furnish from Gestalten Verlag. His work also appears in the travelling exhibition Shaping the New Century-European Design since 1985 which opened at the Indianapolis Museum of the Arts in 2009. www.hrafnkell.com

Thurídur Rós Sigurthorsdóttir

Icelandic Artist Thuridur Ros Sigurthorsdottir questions the accepted constructs of our everyday reality to produce works that are quietly poetic gestures more in line with a moment than a movement.  Her sculptural installations and images reflect the sensation of a natural occurence.  One that in revealing its secrets produces keener questions for those who are its witness.  After receiving her BA in Woman's Wear from Central Saint Martins in London Sigurthorsdottir worked as a designer both individually and in collaboration with the label Scandinavian tourist and design collective Vík Prjónsdóttir exhibiting her projects and pieces internationally.  In 2008 She completed her MFA in Fine Arts at the School of Visual Arts in New York City where she currently lives and works.