The Third Day

The Third Day

Task

Use the “The Creation”, from “The First Book of Moses” in the Old Testament, to chart the stages of a creative process.

The starting point of this exhibition is a compilation of medieval iconography from drawings made by Icelandic draughtsman between 1330 and 1500. Most artists in the Middle Ages and in early Renaissance compiled model books, or exempla. However, few of these books have survived, with only thirty such medieval manuscripts known in Europe today. In Scandinavia only one of them survived, Islenska teiknibokin, or The Icelandic Model Book, which was recently compiled and re-published. The series of paintings that forms the core of Haraldsdóttir’s exhibition is based on the seven drawings describing the seven days of the story of creation as found in this book. In Genesis, Haraldsdóttir appropriates both the subject matter of the drawings and the pattern surrounding them – a ‘frame’ that replicates early Islamic art and can also be found on Tarot cards. Using this frame as an instruction for her series, she articulates her own story of creation, while also reflecting on her own creative processes.

The Third Day

Resource