Eva Brá Barkardóttir is an Icelandic artist based in London. She holds a BA in fashion design from Iceland Academy of the Arts (2012) and an MA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Art (2021). She is a 2020 recipient of the Chelsea Arts Club Trust grant. Eva is the co-founder of In-house Art and Elm, as well as being the founder of Anddyri Reykjavík. In-house is a curatorial project showcasing early to mid-career artists' work at True House in London. Elm is a female-led floral and horticultural design collective and Anddyri is an experimental pop-up art space. Her work has been acquired by private collectors in England, Iceland and Germany. She is a member of Seed 2065 a collective, is a radical futurist artistic experiment focused on developing alternative hopeful narratives about future ecosystems, and creating a non-anthropocentric language for this future.
She was recently part of the Bow Arts 30th anniversary exhibition at the Nunnery Gallery, an exhibition with D Contemporary and Cream Athens in central London as well as Collectivism at The Bomb Factory Art Foundation in Marylebone.
Drawing inspiration from folkloric narratives, mythology and science, Eva explores the delicate balance between structure and chaos, transforming failure into rituals of rebirth. She is interested in how nature functions fundamentally and the interconnectedness of it all, looking for patterns and meanings hidden beyond the directly visible, exploring the boundaries of human perception and our relationship with the more-than-human world.
Connections are found and lost again through surreal methods as found materials and dead-stock textiles are endlessly reworked and reused. With a background in fashion design, an obsession with textiles and drapery is central to Eva’s practice, which actively engages in ongoing discourse surrounding the feminine and the construction of female identity with work that intersects painting, performance, photography and sculpture.
She works across textile and drawing-based practices, exploring material sensitivity, tactility and transformation. Her work often reflects on fragility and containment, using fabric as both surface and subject.
Education
2023 - 2024
CERTIFICATE IN HORTICULTURE, CAPEL MANOR COLLEGE
2019 - 2021
MA FINE ART, CHELSEA COLLEGE OF ARTS
2018 - 2019
FINE ART GRADUATE DIPLOMA, CHELSEA COLLEGE OF ARTS
2013 - 2015
MA ART EDUCATION, ICELAND ACADEMY OF THE ARTS
2008 - 2012
BACHELOR OF ARTS IN FASHION DESIGN, ICELAND ACADEMY OF THE ARTS
Selected Exhibitions and projects
2026 - Collectivism at The Bomb Factory Art Foundation
2026 - Loop State with D Contemporary and Cream Athens
2025 - SEED 2065 at The Handbag Factory
2025 - Connections at Nunnery Gallery. Bow Arts 30th anniversary exhibition
2025 - Critical Edge Collective at The Handbag Factory
2024 - Residency in Dartmoor with Mayes Creatives
2024 - Change Horses midstream with Hypha Studios, curated by Will Jennings
2024 - 'Open Wide' Open205 Gallery, Deptford
2024 - Layers exhibition at the Steamships project space, curated by Flos collective
2024 - In the water at the Old bath house in Hampton Wick. A group exhibition by the Shop Front, curated by Lizzie Cardozo
2024 - Hypha studios. Co-curation and exhibition.
2023 - Deptford X festival. The 25th anniversary edition.
2023 - 'You must be hungry' at the Old Courthouse, Stroud. Curated by Holly English and Madeleine Staples
2023 - 'thumb2' at Ladder space Copenhagen in collaboration with mpaacc (multi-resent anti-aggressive communal computer)
2023 - Dual Transits - Exhibition with Julia White, Frogley rd, East Dulwich
2023 - Vegsummerki/ Traces in Anddyri Reykjavík. An exhibition in Iceland with Maryam Hina Hasnain, Holly English and Anders Aarvik.
2023 - Altered Planes, a Chelsea College alumni exhibition kindly supported by Metre Squared
2023 - 13 Soho square, end of residency exhibition
2023 - The Earth Vision residency, a two month residency in Soho.
2022 - Elephant Arcade, a pop up exhibition with 6 Chelsea alumni, kindly supported by Meanwhile Space
2022 - Áferð//Texture in Anddyri Reykjavík, a solo show in a conceptual pop up gallery in Iceland
2022 - True House, works on show in True Global's headquarters in Buckingham Gate
2021 - Revenge of the Real at Rupture Exhibit and Kate Howe Studios. Curated by Lizzie Cardoso, Julia White and Stephen Nulty
2021 - Chelsea College of Arts degree show for 19/20 and 20/21 MA Fine Art students
2021 - Language - Art Project 2020-1 UAL
2021 - MOSTYN Gallery / My Online Bedroom in collaboration with Queer Direct
2020 - Late at Tate - Short film shown in a set of one-minute film compilation by about 70 artist from Chelsea College
2020 - The Waiting Residency - A conceptual artist residency founded by artist Claudia Sambo
2020 - Portportlandland September Issue - Featured in issue 196 Open Borders
2020 - The Shop Front 285 group exhibition with emerging artists from CCW and RCA
2020 - Chelsea Arts Club exhibition with current recipients of the CAC trust.
2020 - Exhibition collaboration with Holly English in SVA gallery Stroud, (Now imagine) you are old and a friend is brushing your hair
2020 - Charity auction for the Chelsea Arts Club Trust at Chelsea Arts Club, painting donated for the charity auction
2020 - Group exhibition, Hanover Space - We need to talk about it
2020 - Launched a spare room gallery in my flat in south London with two other artists, Hanover Space (instagram: @hanover_space)
2020 - Group exhibition, 10 MAFA students, Cookhouse gallery - Mapping
2019 - Group exhibition for the end of MAFA first term, Chelsea College of Arts - Unit 1
2019 - Part of a 6 person curatorial team for the end of first term exhibition, Chelsea College of Arts
2019 - Group exhibition, 10 MAFA students, Cookhouse gallery - Side Bar
2019 - Graduation show from Graduate Diploma in Fine Art, Chelsea College of Arts - Final Art
2019 - Group exhibition in Safehouse gallery - Safehouse 1 and 2
Awards
2019 - Material and research award from the Chelsea Arts Club Trust
http://www.chelseaartsclubtrust.org/eva-bra-barkardottir/
Publications
2020 - The Norn issue - A body of critical articles looking into spiritual botany, sustainability in the arts, witchcraft and feminism
2020 - Portportlandland September Issue - Featured in issue 196 Open Borders
MAFAzine - an online zine publication by MA Fine Art students from Chelsea College of Arts