Hildur Elísa Jónsdóttir

Hildur Elísa Jónsdóttir (born 1993) is an Icelandic artist, musician and composer whose practice spans performance, installation, and sound, and explores storytelling and immersive spatial experiences. Based between Amsterdam and Reykjavík, her work frequently engages relational aesthetics and institutional critique. Prizes Hildur Elísa received the 2026 Icelandic Arts Prize Motivational Award for her “exceptionally mature and complex work”. The Icelandic Arts Prize is overseen by the Visual Arts Council and hosted by the Icelandic Art Center. Early life and education Hildur Elísa completed a diploma in classical clarinet from the Reykjavík College of Music in 2015, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Iceland University of the Arts in 2019. In 2018, she also attended the Kunst und Vermittlung department at Hochschule Luzern through an exchange programme. In 2024, she completed the temporary programme Re:master Opera (MA-level) at the Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam. Career Hildur Elísa’s work has been described as reframing everyday gestures, within operatic performance or contemporary music, to reflect on presence, absence, surreality, grief, and listening dynamics. Later that sa