Karen Ösp Pálsdóttir
- 1 day ago
- 1 min read
Cobalt blue was invented in the early nineteenth century as a steadier way to paint skies and seas. Since 2019, it has been the only color Karen Ösp Pálsdóttir uses. She uses that long history in her work, building depth out of the smallest changes of tone within a single blue.
Her early paintings were close-up portraits. Lately she has pulled back, setting the human figure in landscapes made by the ocean, with shells, water, and other sea shapes gathered around it. It comes down to how far one color can go on its own.
Pálsdóttir lives in Reykjavík and New York and holds a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Her work has been shown across Iceland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, and France, and featured in New American Paintings, Hyperallergic, and El País.
