Home, stillness and the magic of everyday life are the central themes in Kristín Elva’s (b. 1972) artistic practice. Her works all emerge from grounded emotions and energies that surround all-sorts of living and lifeless subjects. They span from dreamlike compositions that highlight contrasts, lines and colour, to works shaped by compulsive repetition, where layers of delicate lines, shapes and hues shift fluidly between the figurative and the abstract.
Kristín Elva allows the subject matter and the feeling she finds tied to it to guide her choice of methods and materials. In recent years she has worked across a variety of media, including drawings, video, photograph and three-dimensional works.
Kristín Elva Rögnvaldsdóttir, born in 1972 is an Icelandic artist based in Reykjavík. She earned her MA in Fine Art from The Royal Academy of Arts in Stockholm in 2001, following her graduation from The Icelandic College of Art and Crafts in 1998.
Kristín Elva has participated in various exhibitions, residencies and festivals, showcasing her work across Iceland and internationally.
This year 2026 she was part of the group exhibition Andleg tímavél - Tími og rúm in SÍM Hlöðulofti - Korpúlfstaðir in Reykjavík, Iceland, with nine visual artists from Iceland, Sweden and Norway.
In 2025 Kristín Elva participated in three different exhibitions: Höggó, a group exhibition showcasing the works of members of the Reykjavík Sculptor's Association, presented in the association’s workshops at Nýlendugata, the solo exhibitions Í lát, showcased in the artist run gallery Mjólkurbúðin in Akureyri, and finally the exhibition Hvít hljóð og nokkur Íát in collaboration with the poet Guðbjörg Guðmundóttir in SÍM Gallery in Reykjavík.
Kristín Elva´s drawing Flókið Ílát 2024 (42 x 60 cm) was showcased in the book and virtual exhibition This Body of Mine, on behalf of The Starving Artist in 2024. One year earlier, in 2023 she stayed in the Gilfélagið - Deiglan artist residence in Akureyri, Iceland, where she gave a lecture at the Akureyri Art Museum's Tuesday lecture series.
Kristín Elva has participated in various exhibitions and projects, for example: Karnal Knowledge, where seven nordic visual artist toured around Sweden and Iceland, e.g. Trollhättan Art Gallery in Sweden and The Living Art Museum in Reykjavík, Iceland. Sýning, LÁ Art Museum in Hveragerði, Iceland, Bitch, Yellow House, Reykjavík, Iceland and Det Låter Som Konst, Moderna Museets Vänner, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden.
She has had solo exhibitions both in Iceland and Sweden in various galleries like Gallery Mejan, Stocholm, Sweden, The House of Collections, Reykjavík, Iceland and Gallery Box, Akureyri, Iceland.
Kristín Elva has also been taking part in Sequences Art Festival and Culture night both held in Reykjavík, and she participated on behalf of the Sors art group at The Art Fair Solentuna, in Stockholm, Sweden.