The large-format painting “Ice Clouds I”, created in 2023, was displayed in the first room of the exhibition alongside two works by her husband. This piece stood out for Jakobsdóttir’s sensitive use of color and the compelling contrast between abstraction and figuration. It offered an impressive insight into her conceptual and visual explorations. The artist used both figurative and abstract forms to explore themes of the unconscious and the imaginary, as well as the relationship between the self and its environment. The connection between the inner and outer voice was also a central motif in this painting.

The title Ice Clouds refers to a meteorological phenomenon: these clouds form only when the outside temperature is at least minus 35 degrees Celsius and at an altitude of around 5000 to 7000 meters. Under such conditions, water droplets begin to crystallize, forming delicate, shimmering clouds made of ice crystals. Unlike water clouds, they usually have blurred edges. Optical phenomena occur when sunlight or moonlight is refracted or reflected by the ice crystals. Jakobsdóttir’s ice clouds appear just as delicate: they were created through finely graded layers of color, whose misty, veiled quality evokes dreamlike landscapes.

Out of these atmospheric cloud formations emerge the clear outlines of two legs and the left hand of a female figure. Painted with a bold red brushstroke, they suggest a falling body. The fall from the icy heights seems profound. Whether this fall is life-affirming or life-ending remains open to interpretation. The painting’s sense of ambiguity—between vulnerability and ecstasy—is intensified by the incorporeal quality of the body fragments.

These fragments clearly stand out from the background, yet are simultaneously part of the clouds. As in an osmotic process, the individual and the surrounding environment infiltrate one another. While Jakobsdóttir poured acrylic paint onto the primed canvas to create the clouds and allowed chemical processes to take effect, she painted the body fragments in red oil paint from memory. In this way, memory and chance combine with drawing skill and intuitive color handling. This unique approach gives the work its particular expressive power and depth.

Warm regards,
Your Haus Kunst Mitte Team