Wond­erland: Work in Progress with Sara Riel

In what way do we try to make sense of nature, categorize, define and claim it?

Sara's subjects include flora, fauna, weather and even space. She uses exceptional artistry and resourcefulness to create engaging, visual interpretations of compelling issues.

In the early winter of 2024, a new artwork in public space by Sara was unveiled in the underpass at Öskjuhlíð near the Meteorological Office. There she worked around on ideas about the weather, both graphically but also based on how weather appears in language and history. Among her best-known works are the murals on buildings in Æsufelli (Feather), on Skúlaguta (Glitter) and elsewhere. Both draw from the pictorial world of nature, birds and sea animals, but in Sara's treatment new phenomena are created that arouse wonder and attention.

Wonderland is a project dedicated to the history of Ásmundarsafn. This was the home and studio of sculptor Ásmundur Sveinsson (1893-1982), which he designed himself and built in the years 1942-1950. The plot was adjacent to a farm called Undraland (Wonderland). Ásmundur bequeathed the house and his works to the city of Reykjavik after his day, and a museum dedicated to his memory was established there in 1983. During the four decades that the artist worked in the house, it was a scene of vibrant artistic creation. Throughout the year 2025, artists are invited to elaborate on their own works in progress or any state of flux.

Sara Riel (1980) studied art at the Iceland University of the Arts and the Weißensee University of the Arts in Berlin, from where she graduated in 2006. She is known for wall works in public spaces, but at the same time she has works in many collections and has exhibited widely.