December 2020
Artist Interview

Inga Bragadottir 
​
​
Picture




 


Inga Bragadottir (b. 1996, Washington, D.C.) is a fiber based artist with an emphasis on
materiality and experimentation. She received her BFA in Fiber from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2020. Her work spans from performance to photography, textile and sculpture and often explores identity, body, and relationship to the environment.
 
​​
​The Interview
At what point in your life did you know that you wanted to become an artist? Did the realization emerge slowly?
I always wanted to be an artist in some way when I was growing up. I didn’t take it seriously until college. I signed up for museum studies, but on the first day something got mixed up and I was put in the visual arts track. After that I slowly realized I responded really well to working sculpturally. From there I came to fiber and mixed media work. ​
 
How did you evolve your style and favorite mediums?  
I am still a young artist, so I see this period I'm in as a time to explore what my style is. I usually describe myself as a fiber artist, but I’m also interested in performance art and have been looking at ways to bring those two things together. I don’t feel particularly tied to one medium though, I expect to experiment with different things in the future. 

What are your time management techniques? Do you have regular working hours...or favorite times to work?
My favorite times to work are in the evening, sometimes very late. Everything is quiet and it feels like I am in my own world and can focus. What works best for me is committing to working a certain amount of time everyday on a project, without being too specific. Even if that means just ironing fabric or cleaning my sewing machine.  

Do you work on more than one piece at a time, or primarily just on one?
There are ideas being worked out in my head or my sketchbook at all hours of the day. Once I start making progress on a piece or I have a strict deadline, all my attention goes there until it is complete. Then I take a short break until my next piece. 

What would you say is your biggest influence--that which keeps you working, regardless of all else, your most steadfast motivation?
The impulse to create is the one thing that pushes me above all else.  I start to feel a pent-up anxiety if I'm not working with my hands. I’m always thinking of ways to manipulate material and form, especially when I come across something tactile or visually stimulating in the world. 

Does trying something new and not knowing the rules -- the boundary pushing -- create anxiety or excitement in you?  (Or both?)
For me it is very exciting. A lot of my work comes out of experimenting with fiber techniques. Material has always been the driving force behind my experimentation. I’ve been working with plastic for a while and now I am leaning back towards fabric while thinking of new ways to create forms or wall hangings with the material. 

​Do you enjoy having the "duality of both chaos and control" or are you happiest with a set plan?
I love the idea of having a set plan. Everything would be much easier if I knew exactly what to do, how to do it and how it would turn out in the end. But I find the excitement of making a piece comes with having a plan and allowing yourself to deviate when experimentation lends itself to something inspiring in the work.
 Do you have any projects or events forthcoming? 
I just finished an online solo show at Aerogramme Arts Center called, “Lands Untethered”. For now I’m focusing on making new work and developing projects for the future. 

Leather Quilt, 2019
Fake leather, cotton, industrial serger thread 
​48 in x 55 in
Detail of Leather Quilt ​
Black Rocks, 2020 
Knitted plastic, paint and wool 
​7 ft x 5 ft
Detail of Black rocks ​
For further information about please contact Inga Bragadottir at 
ingabragadottir96@gmail.comhttps://www.instagram.com/inga.adda/
https://www.ingabragadottir.com/
Ingabragadottir96@gmail.com ​