Heimir Björgúlfsson

Artist Statement

I am a studio-based artist, my collage-based practice investigates the complex and often contradictory relationship between humans and the natural world. I examine this relationship at the microcosmic and personal levels, as well as within broader historical and ecological narratives that shape human civilization.

Rather than offering solutions, my work poses questions. I am interested in both the subtle and absurd intersections where human activity collides with nature, producing unpredictable and often provoking outcomes. My work explores how animal species adapt to shifting environments and endure the pressures of urbanization and climate change. Within these dynamics, I seek the inherent awkwardness and the coincidental narratives that arise from viewers’ own cultural perspectives and identities.

The source material for my work originates from observation and lived experience, drawn from reading, travel, and encounters with the environment. Sometimes, the shortsighted and destructive ways humans treat other species and ecosystems become both a motivation and a point of reflection, inspiring artworks that engage with the past, respond to the present, and look toward the future.

Growing up in Iceland, I aspired to become an ornithologist. When I later moved to Amsterdam to study art, I encountered an environment almost entirely shaped and altered by humans—a stark contrast to Iceland’s largely unaltered landscapes. That juxtaposition profoundly influenced my artistic direction. Living and working in Los Angeles, I continue to draw inspiration from the city’s unique interplay between the artificial and the natural, its layered histories, and its diverse cultural fabric. My perspective remains informed by these geographic and cultural contrasts.

As my practice has evolved, my approach has become increasingly anecdotal. Though I once hesitated to call myself a painter, my practice has gradually shifted to a primarily painting-centered one, which now constitutes roughly 90% of my work. Yet each piece still begins as a conceptual collage—an idea that transforms through the act of painting, a process that remains an ongoing challenge reflecting my interest in the tension between construction and intuition, order and improvisation.

In my most recent paintings, I examine shifts in animal behavior and the threat of species extinction in the Anthropocene. I am particularly fascinated by instances where animals exhibit adaptive behaviors that mirror or respond to human influence—such as monkeys in South Africa forming burglary gangs that raid suburban homes due to habitat loss, or manatees in Florida grazing on lawn grass in flooded backyards as a result of climate change. Through such examples of unpredictable consequences, what do we know and think about the so-called laws of nature and species adaptation?

Grief is a universal human experience that manifests in many forms, including responses to the loss or transformation of environments, species, places, and loved ones. There is also a distinct form of grief associated with gradual change, whether caused by human activity or disease. The work submitted here reflects this personal experience of mourning slow transformation. It traces a psychological shift from initial shock toward a more difficult, ongoing acceptance—a process that underscores the emotional capacity that defines our humanity.