Unread Fortunes (2024)

Plant dyed silk, bioplastic, 3D-printed PLA, aluminum
My great grandmother used to read fortunes in her guests’ coffee cups. She placed them upside down on the radiator, to let the grounds dry in patterns. The premonitions they told, be they good or bad, playful or serious, I imagine would be regarded as exactly this, forewarnings of what could happen if nothing else would change. Serving, in my mind, as a possibility to make a shift.
By dressing known objects in different materials, I wish to reinterpret them and direct the attention towards time and development.
How are ideas about fortunes and fate woven into present day? If the magical thinking really
lies in the fact that outcomes can be changed, do we think the same way about current
warnings about the future?

The exhibition is supported by Statens Kunstnerstipend.
Kaktus is supported by SSNE, Myndlistarsjóður and Menningarsjóður Akureyrar.

Sunneva Elvarsdóttir (1993, NO/IS) was born in Iceland and grew up in Tromsø, Norway. Her practice spans across different mediums, from textile to text, sculpture, drawing and sound. She has an MFA from Tromsø Academy of Arts and has previously studied creative writing in Bø, Telemark. She also works as a translator.