Hildur Elísa Jónsdóttir
hildurelisa@gmail.com
Born in 1993 in Hafnarfjörður, Iceland
Based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Hildur Elísa Jónsdóttir (1993) is an Icelandic artist, musician, and composer currently based in Amsterdam. She finds inspiration in the mundanity of everyday life and often employs durational performance and repetition to lend a new light to her subjects. Her works thrive in interdisciplinary spaces and claim exhibition spaces as their own, using both exhibitions and others’ works as scenography. Theatrical yet resisting the black box, they rupture exhibition spaces and demand immediate attention.
Through a variety of media - performance, moving image, installation and music - Hildur Elísa employs normalised human behaviours and experiences in a critical way, displacing them into an artistic context. By placing these mundane, everyday happenings in unconventional and surreal scenes, she aims to challenge our understanding of our heavily constructed social reality, reflecting on our own ability to create new meaning and forge our own reality - always asking ‘why’ and ‘what if’.
Hildur Elísa’s creative process is a balance between caprice and compulsive research. She is particularly interested in how we experience everything that happens around us, which of those experiences we have in common and where we differ, and strives to create works that invite the audience to create their own meaning.
Hildur Elísa holds a diploma in classical clarinet from the Reykjavík College of Music, a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the Iceland University of the Arts, and a master’s degree in operatic performances from Sandberg Instituut.
Her works have been exhibited and performed in Arti et Amificitiae (NL), Ásmundarsalur (IS), Kjarvalsstaðir (IS), Nordatlantens Brygge (DK), Outvert Art Space (IS), Platform POST (NL), SIGN (NL) and Y Gallery (IS), as well as at Gaudeamus Muziekweek (NL), Grachtenfestival (NL), November Music (NL), Opera Forward Festival (NL), Platform Nord (NO), Rewire (NL), Tokyo Biennale (JP) and Ung Nordisk Musik, and been performed by, among others, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Antti Tolvi, Bryndís Guðjónsdóttir, Caz Egelie, Juho Myllylä, Jónas Ásgeir Ásgeirsson and K!ART Ensemble.
Together with artists Ástríður Jónsdóttir and Joe Keys, Hildur Elísa founded and runs Associate Gallery in Reykjavík, Iceland. In 2025, she was the youngest recipient of the Icelandic Artist Salary and received the Artist Start stimulation stipend from the Mondriaan Fonds in the Netherlands. Hildur Elísa’s performance of Tacet: Extrinsic with Elja Ensemble at Sequences XII is nominated for the 2026 Icelandic Art Prize.
Portrait by Anna Perger
hildurelisa@gmail.com
Born in 1993 in Hafnarfjörður, Iceland
Based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Hildur Elísa Jónsdóttir (1993) is an Icelandic artist, musician, and composer currently based in Amsterdam. She finds inspiration in the mundanity of everyday life and often employs durational performance and repetition to lend a new light to her subjects. Her works thrive in interdisciplinary spaces and claim exhibition spaces as their own, using both exhibitions and others’ works as scenography. Theatrical yet resisting the black box, they rupture exhibition spaces and demand immediate attention.
Through a variety of media - performance, moving image, installation and music - Hildur Elísa employs normalised human behaviours and experiences in a critical way, displacing them into an artistic context. By placing these mundane, everyday happenings in unconventional and surreal scenes, she aims to challenge our understanding of our heavily constructed social reality, reflecting on our own ability to create new meaning and forge our own reality - always asking ‘why’ and ‘what if’.
Hildur Elísa’s creative process is a balance between caprice and compulsive research. She is particularly interested in how we experience everything that happens around us, which of those experiences we have in common and where we differ, and strives to create works that invite the audience to create their own meaning.
Hildur Elísa holds a diploma in classical clarinet from the Reykjavík College of Music, a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the Iceland University of the Arts, and a master’s degree in operatic performances from Sandberg Instituut.
Her works have been exhibited and performed in Arti et Amificitiae (NL), Ásmundarsalur (IS), Kjarvalsstaðir (IS), Nordatlantens Brygge (DK), Outvert Art Space (IS), Platform POST (NL), SIGN (NL) and Y Gallery (IS), as well as at Gaudeamus Muziekweek (NL), Grachtenfestival (NL), November Music (NL), Opera Forward Festival (NL), Platform Nord (NO), Rewire (NL), Tokyo Biennale (JP) and Ung Nordisk Musik, and been performed by, among others, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Antti Tolvi, Bryndís Guðjónsdóttir, Caz Egelie, Juho Myllylä, Jónas Ásgeir Ásgeirsson and K!ART Ensemble.
Together with artists Ástríður Jónsdóttir and Joe Keys, Hildur Elísa founded and runs Associate Gallery in Reykjavík, Iceland. In 2025, she was the youngest recipient of the Icelandic Artist Salary and received the Artist Start stimulation stipend from the Mondriaan Fonds in the Netherlands. Hildur Elísa’s performance of Tacet: Extrinsic with Elja Ensemble at Sequences XII is nominated for the 2026 Icelandic Art Prize.
Portrait by Anna Perger