Jezebel is an intimate dance between corrosive elements of femininity, a candid exploration of nuanced social relationships, layered with thinly veiled power struggles and the longing for connection. Long strands of human hair find their way into the exhibit‘s narrative arc, juxtaposed with torn lace they tell the story of female aggression, envy and subjugation. Themes of hair-pulling emerge throughout the show and disembodied locks of hair appear pasted onto canvas. Sunneva whips each canvas with hair, creating dimension through the symbolic medium. In the titular piece The dogs shall eat Jezebel the subject has been torn apart, a canvas spanning time and space, a lifetime of collected experiences. In Masked she is poised and put back together, her shredded layers twined together as she carries on.
Rust and time are closely knit with pain of inevitable decline or the end of a friendship, the rusted metal structures are as armour that forms like a hard shell to protect from future hurt. Sunneva invites viewers to examine their scars of social exclusion and the intricate tapestry of female social relationships, challenging one-dimensional stereotypes of femininity.
-The theme connects the exhibition Flagð // Jezebel and the artist’s second solo exhibition this year, which opens on September 14th at Robilant+Voena, New York.

Sunneva Ása Weisshappel b. 1989 graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Arts from the Iceland University of the Arts, in the spring of 2013. She currently pursues a joint MFA in Fine Arts at the Goldsmith University in London and the Iceland University of the Arts. Sunneva works in a variety of mediums; painting, sculpture, performance, and video art. Through her art she performs emotional and psychological excavations, aiming to challenge herself and the audience. Sunneva’s work is a subversive exploration of femininity that aims to reveal its
delicate charm and corrosive secrets. It draws the viewer in by juxtaposing softness and grit, intertwining themes of time, beauty and aggression through powerful motifs such as hair, paint, lace, and rust.

Sunneva’s recent solo exhibitions include New Work, Robilant+Voena, London (2022) Undirlög, Þula, Reykjavík (2021) and Metamorphosis, Gallerí Port (2018). She also took part in the group exhibitions Tíðarandi, Árnesinga Art Museum (2020) and Raunir, B Plan Art Festival (2018)