Elísabet Geirmundsdóttir

Elísabet was born and brought up in Akureyri, north Iceland. From an early age she displayed diverse talents: she wrote affecting poetry, and composed music, which she had put down in musical notation. Largely self-taught as an artist, she did not allow this to deter her: she fetched clay from Hamraborgir south of Akureyri and made large sculptures in her garden, painted, and modelled various subjects, including plaster casts of people in national costume, for sale. She also made snow-statues which attracted attention from the media and public. In 1989 a book about Elísabet was published: Listakonan í fjörunni (The Artist on the Seashore), an illustrated account of her life and art by Edda Eiríksdóttir. At the age of 35 Elísabet was diagnosed with a brain tumour, and lost the sight in one eye; but she stoically continued her work, making good use of the time she had left. She then suffered another blow, when her national-costume figures were fraudulently reproduced by some women in Reykjavík. Elísabet’s works have been showcased at the Icelandic Folk and Outsider Art Museum, and in 2015 an exhibition in memory of Elísabet was held at the Akureyri Art Museum.

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