Sunneva Ása Weisshappel is an Icelandic artist whose work interrogates what it means to be human in a material and materialistic world. She works in a variety of mediums; painting, installation, performance, and video art. In addition to fine art, she has worked in theatre and film as a production designer, set, and costume designer.
Through strange and forceful combinations of materials, Weisshappel transforms collections of found objects into complex, multi-layered canvases. From delicate textiles conjuring ghostly shapes of female bodies, to hair, teeth and wax evoking the texture of human skin, her works extend beyond the two-dimensional canvas, loaded with cultural and symbolic meaning. She compares her paintings to human beings: ‘complex, beautiful, ugly, multifaceted, full of contrasts, mistakes, feelings, and contradictions’. Weisshappel's highly personal artistic practice touches upon universal and autobiographical themes.
Weisshappel graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Arts from the Iceland University of the Arts, in the spring of 2013. In the same year, she founded and managed Algera Studio; a workshop, art gallery, and residency in Reykjavík. The studio was one of the main research bases for young artists in Iceland and ran for four years. Until recently, Weisshappel lived and worked in Reykjavík, having completed her MFA in Fine Arts at the Goldsmith University in London. In late 2024, she is moving to Australia with her partner and their baby daughter.
In 2022, Robilant+Voena organised the first solo show of Weisshappel's art in the UK; subsequently, in 2023, R+V presented the artist's first solo exhibition in the United States, in R+V's New York gallery. In addition, she has held solo exhibitions at Thula, Reykjavík (2023); Hjartatorg, Reykjavík (2021); Galleri Port, Reykjavík (2018); and Ármúli 7, Reykjavík (2018). Her most recent work in the spheres of cinema and theatre include working as production designer for two projects for Rvk Studios & Netflix, Iceland (2019-22); creator and director of Zoo, Future X at Sydhavn Theatre, Copenhagen; and costume designer for Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare and Prokofiev), Ballet des Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz, Munich.
