Sigrun Gunnarsdóttir – a heart in colours, a world of warmth

By Signe Hansen | Photos: Beinta á Torkilsheyggi

From the rugged coast of Eiði on the Faroe Islands, Sigrun Gunnarsdóttir (b. 1950) has shaped a visual language recognised far beyond the North Atlantic. Educated at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, her work is rooted in naivism, symbolism and a quiet surrealism, with warm, concentrated colours and pared-back forms meeting layers of emotions and memories. As she continues working from the village where she was born, exhibitions all over the world, numerous accolades, and the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Dannebrog testify to the impact of her art.

In 2021, Gunnarsdóttir was commissioned to paint Queen Margrethe II. The portrait – intimate yet symbolic – shows the Queen seated before a Faroese cairn, looking out across the sea and mountains, as a cradle glows gently in the foreground. It is a work grounded in belonging, history and warm respect, drawing Faroese tradition into the royal gaze.

De kom som et lys og er en varde (You Came as a Light and are a Cairn), portrait of Denmark’s former Queen Margrethe II.

As all other works of Gunnarsdóttir, the portrait comes from her heart. “Every single painting means something to me. It has to – otherwise, I cannot put my name on it,” says Gunnarsdóttir in HEARTIST, a documentary about the artist and her work. The title of the film, which won the Best International Documentary Award at DOC LA (Los Angeles film festival) 2023, echoes the artist’s own description of herself as a ‘heartist’. “Art is the heart I uncover and present to you; after that, I can only hope for the best.”

The hope was certainly fulfilled, as the artist’s royal standing was further cemented in June 2024 when King Frederik X and Queen Mary visited the Faroe Islands on their first official overseas tour. During their stay, they awarded Gunnarsdóttir the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Dannebrog and visited her studio in Eiði, underlining her standing as one of the nation’s most treasured artistic voices.

Sigrun Gunnarsdóttir – a heart in colours, a world of warmth

Vingefang (wingspan) 2024.

From a small village to the world

Growing up in a small fishing community, surrounded by steep cliffs and sweeping views Gunnarsdóttir’s artistic inheritance is directly rooted in the Faroe landscape: her grandfather, Niels Kruse, was among the first Faroese painters to exhibit abroad with his naturalistic landscapes.

Growing up with his work on the walls, she began drawing confidently as a child and later trained at the Glyptotek Drawing School (1971–73) and the Royal Danish Academy (1973–80).

When I started, I was very confident in my drawing skills. But after six months, I thought, I don’t know anything,” she recalls. “Being a student was a real eye-opener. The more you learn, the more you realise how little you know. I slowly understood that I wasn’t particularly talented. At the same time, I could feel I was learning a lot – my eyes were trained in a new way, and I began to see everything differently.”

Her career paused when she became a mother, yet the call to paint did not fade, and she received vital encouragement from her husband, Tordur. “People will remember you – your paintings will live forever,” he told me, she says pensively. And so, she returned to her canvas.

In 2025, Sigrun Gunnarsdóttir was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Dannebrog by Denmark’s King Frederik X. Photo: Tordur J. Niclasen

With the meaning of life at stake

in the mid-1990s, Gunnarsdóttir went through a transition in her visual expression as illness and loss in the family introduced deeper symbolic threads into her art. Sparrows, cairns, guardians, the maternal figure, and the Faroese landscape became vessels for reflection on belonging, love and the fragile continuum of life.

“Sometimes inspiration comes from things you cannot predict or control – maybe a childhood memory triggered in adult life,” she explains. The result is art that blends tenderness with quiet gravity: children set against mountains, animals as guardians, figures gazing to distant horizons. The world feels distilled, as if softened through reflection.

Art critics have noted the sense of heart and narrative at the core of her practice, with art historian, author Dagmar Warming writing: “The deeper meaning of life is at stake here. The wonders of creation, often in the shape of a tiny flower or bird, put things into perspective. The motifs are assertive and direct, and never indifferent.”

The artist in her studio.

Art for the future

Decades into her artistic journey, Gunnarsdóttir continues to explore new projects, with recent exhibitions in Greenland, Japan and New York. Yet her daily rhythm remains rooted in Eiði. Every morning, she walks with her dogs through the steep cliffs of her home region. With the passing years has come not only wider recognition, but also reflection. “As I become older, I think more about life and how short it is,” she reflects. “You don’t always think that your art will be relevant for future generations – but I hope so.”

With her works living on in local Faroese homes, international collections and public institutions – a language at once intimate and universal – that hope feels well-placed.