Biography & Applause

Born in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1944, Karolina Larusdottir studied art at the Ruskin School of Art in Oxford (1965-1967).

An elected member of the New English Art Club. A fully elected member of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers in 1986, and the Royal Watercolour Society in 1996, she has won many prizes. The Dicks and Greenbury in 1989, and the 4th Triennale Mondiale D'Estampes Petit Format , France. In 1990 Karolina received a special award at the Premio Biella Internazionale per L'Incisione in Italy. The Graphic artist of the Year 2005, Islensk Grafik.

Karolina has lived and worked in Britain since leaving Iceland in the mid sixties and now has a studio in Cambridge. Her unique vision of both her homeland and England have won her a deservedly high reputation in the fields of painting in oils and watercolours and also as a highly skilled printmaker. As a printmaker she works in the medium of etching and aquatint.

Her successes include many one person shows, and participation in some of the most prestigious exhibitions in Britain. This includes the Royal Academy Summer Show, where in 1993 and 1997 her paintings were used to advertise the exhibition. Her biography was published in Iceland in 1993.

Karolina’s subject matter is rooted in her upbringing in Iceland. Her grandfather was the owner of the first grand hotel in Reykjavik. Many of the images are derived from glimpses of this busy environment, scenes of chambermaids, chefs and waitresses in the kitchens. The observations of guests, and other candid sights. In some works she creates a world of her own, with imaginary people in strange situations. Some are floating, carrying rainbows, or being visited by angels.

Her work contains a wry humour that enhances the surreal and timeless qualities she creates when dealing with her favourite topic of people.

PUBLICATIONS

• Karolina-Lif og List Jonina Michaelsdottir, Forlagid, Reykjavik, 1993
• Painting People, Second Shift, Issue 3, 1994
• Master Class with Sister Wendy Beckett, Art Review, July 1994
• Sister Wendy Beckett-Meditations on Love, pub. By Dorling Kindersly Press, 1995
• Article in Art Newspaper, October 2002
• Article in Akvarellmaleri Historia Och Teknik, by Tulla Grunberger
• Och Anders Wallin Pub. ICA Bokforlag Sweden, 2002
• The Watercolour Expert. Pub. Royal Watercolour Society 2004
• The renewal of Icelandic painting by Eiríkur Thorláksson. Listasavn Foroya. Narayana Press 2006