Hildur Kristín Jakobsdóttir

Hildur was born at Svalbarð in Eyjafjörður, but grew up in Þórshöfn in the northeast. After graduating from school she studied at Håndarbejdets Fremme Skole in Copenhagen. For a time she taught needlework at the school in Hvammstangi, before working at the local co-operative store. Hulda was active in local life: she supervised the children’s lodge Vetrar- blóm (part of the temperance movement), was on the local anti-alcohol committee, was one of the founders of the youth league Kormákur, and treasurer of the Káraborg search-and-rescue team. In 1954 she married Gunnar Valgeir Sigurðsson, manager of the co-operative, and the couple had three children. In 2000 they moved to Akureyri; Hildur Kristín had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and in Akureyri she would have better access to treatment .

At about that time she started to do free embroidery, as she could no longer follow drawn patterns. Before long she lost the strength in her right hand, and had to pull the needle through with her teeth. In due course she no longer had the strength for sewing, and started making reliefs using a range of small found objects, and painting on card and driftwood. The Icelandic Folk and Outsider Art Museum purchased 21 pieces from Hildur, and held a solo exhibition in 2002. Embroideries by Hildur from the collection were selected for an international textile exhibi- tion at the Reykjavík Art Museum in 2004, an exhibition at the Icelandic Folk and Outsider Art Museum in 2005, and an exhibition from the Museum’s collection in 2013 at the Korundi Museum in Rovaniemi, Finland.

↓