Helga Páley Friðþjófsdóttir, Milja Havas, Loji Höskuldsson: A Scene from an Untold Tale

You pick up a magical wand you find in a field of flowers, "Pouff" suddenly you are transported. Up and down, through earth and sky. You find yourself transformed… Galerie Anhava presents the group exhibition A Scene from an Untold Tale by two Icelandic artists Loji Höskuldsson, Helga Páley Friðþjófsdóttir and Finnish artist Milja Havas. Working primarily in different mediums: embroidery, painting and sculpture, the artists share a central focus on storytelling. The artists present works inspired by books, games, folk tales and fantasies, referencing both familiar everyday moments and nostalgic memories. Working together through dialogue they have inspired each other in both subtle and unsubtle ways. Helga Páley Friðþjófsdóttir's paintings in acrylic and oil can be interpreted as painterly backgrounds of fairytales or atmospheric dreamscapes. Her practice is deeply rooted in illustration and drawing, focusing on color, form and texture, her scenes build up layer by layer and change drastically over time following a trained intuition. Friðþjófsdóttir thinks of her works in relation to nature, diving deep into soil for this exhibition. Soil as a symbol for fertility and growth, acknowledging that something could be developing underground, hidden, before coming to the surface, not necessarily as you envisioned. In contrast, her larger canvases are lighter, drawing you up towards a blush colored sky. Friðþjófsdóttir seeks out beauty and inspiration in books. Surrounded by stacks of books in her studio, she finds comfort in the undiscovered. The narrative of her work plays out as she finds harmony in the colours and shapes on the canvas. A story you have to read between the lines and the many layers of paint. Milja Havas presents drawings on paper and sculptural works in wood and bronze, drawing inspiration from adventures and fairy tales. Who's Game references the magical board game from the movie Jumanji (1995) where the pieces on the board move on their own. A big doll-like sculpture, You Can Be Whatever You Want, is inspired by a toy make-up head the artist longed for as a child, as well as other toys such as Mr. Potato Head and Pinocchio. Fascinated by the mysterious and uncanny elements in children's fairy tales, the artist highlights the eeriness of inanimate objects coming to life and the promise of limitless transformation resulting in inevitable disintegration. Discovering a friend's collection of four-leaf clovers which she keeps in a small matchbox, Havas recalls her own frustrating search for a four-leaf clover during her childhood. Long given up on this search, she decides to make one of her own. Loji Höskuldsson has dedicated his practice to embroidery. His large burlap canvases often show domestic scenes with a nostalgic twist or seemingly random items scattered around a garden amongst flowers. For Höskuldsson, a common everyday object can spark interest due to its colour, pattern, shape or simply its function and become a subject for an artwork. His aesthetic interest is rooted in modernist design and architecture. Flowers are also a central motif in his work, honoring their connection to traditional embroidery as well as using them to add specific colours to a work. By arranging different objects on the canvas, a situation starts to unfold, the objects begin to tell a story. Being inspired by conversations between him, Friðþjófsdóttir and Havas, Höskuldsson has embroidered objects associated with recreational activities, books, boardgames and toys, bringing a warm playful familiarity to the works. These works are all linked by the artist's caring and repetitive methods, working the material with their own hands. Through conversations they have influenced each other and created a larger narrative between their works. A story of a few magical moments. Starting with a seemingly ordinary domestic scene, followed by an in-between moment of magical bliss, ending with an enchanted wooden sculpture of limitless possibilities.