Artists Karen Ösp Pálsdóttir and Petra Hjartardóttir have been observing since childhood, but Ancient Paths is their first exhibition together.

When they were discussing what the starting point of the exhibition should be, they were looking for a grounding. They had lived in different countries for several years, but now they have both returned to their childhood home in Reykjavík. Where they once mixed witches' eggs and mud in the garden and then took their first steps in art, side by side, in courses at the Reykjavík School of Fine Arts. Now they have started stirring things up again, but each in their own way, interpreted through different media.

They share an interest in color and color theory and developed a common color palette that is quite earthy, with green, yellow-brown, purple and orange tones. They also have in common a focus on small details or things in the immediate environment that would be easy to overlook. This tendency finds its way into both of their artistic creations.

Petra works with silversmithing, embroidery and other traditional crafts. She finds inspiration in old books, newspapers, antiques and memories. It is important, however, that the works do not appear as ghosts or zombies but spring up, fresh and young, from this dead soil.

Karen has set up a studio in her childhood home where she is surrounded by old objects and enjoys breathing new life into them through paintings that focus on details such as patterns that evoke childhood memories. Karen paints in oils but has also been tinkering with designing 3D models and making sculptures based on them that are in dialogue with the paintings.

Petra and Karen work on the works in the exhibition separately, but the inspiration for the works is often the same and friendship is what they care about. They are greatly influenced by each other, having been molded from the same clay.

Karen Ösp Pálsdóttir (b.1992) received her Bachelors of Fine Arts degree from The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore in 2013 and has spent the past few years living and working in New York. Karen has exhibited in group exhibitions in New York, Baltimore, Washington DC, London, Barcelona, ​​Reykjavík, Annecy, Norwich, Boston, Portland and Paris. She held her first solo exhibition at 1300 Gallery in 2024 and will hold her second solo exhibition in Reykjavík in May. Karen's paintings have also been published in numerous books and magazines, including New American Paintings, Create! Magazine, Tibia Magazine, SFMOMA, Hyperallergic and El País.

Petra Hjartardóttir (b.1992) graduated with an MFA degree from the Yale School of Art in 2019, a BFA degree in fine arts from Hunter College in New York in 2016, and from the Reykjavík School of Fine Arts in 2012. She has exhibited in group exhibitions in the United States, in Italy; and at Kling and Bang, the Reykjavík Art Museum, and Maybe in Iceland. She held her first solo exhibition at Harbinger in 2021. In the summer of 2019, she attended a guest workshop at Fondazione Antonio Ratti in Italy. In 2023, she attended two two-month guest workshops: AiR Sandnes in Norway and Kjarvalsstofa in Paris. Petra has received many awards and grants in her studies and work as a visual artist, including grants from the Icelandic Art Fund, the Muggs residency fund, and the Icelandic Art Promotion Center travel fund.