Artist spotlight: Tobba, the Icelandic painter who turned copper wire and lava rock into art

Þorbjörg Magnea Óskarsdóttir — known simply as Tobba — has been painting and sculpting in Iceland for more than thirty years. Her work moves between light and dark, chaos and calm, vulnerability and strength.

Her paintings draw on childhood memories and the lives of people around her, while her sculptures are inspired by the legendary stories of her Viking ancestors.

From electrician to artist

Before art became her full-time life, Tobba worked as an electrician. That background never left her: copper wire, electricity and volcanic lava rock from around the Blue Lagoon all find their way into her sculptures and layered canvas pieces.

Science in the materials, art in the landscape.

Following the dream

In 2002 she left her other job and opened her own gallery, Gallery Tobbu, on Hafnargata in Keflavík. Tired of painting at home and getting paint everywhere, she built a studio inside it — and made all her own frames and stretchers by hand.

Black, colour and the northern light

Tobba's paintings often pair deep black with bright, pure colour. Iceland's midnight sun, long polar nights and the aurora borealis shape how she sees — creating images that feel both strange and familiar.

She works in oil and charcoal on canvas, and in wire, clay, cement, stone and fabric, always exploring new materials.

Shown around the world

Her work has been exhibited across Iceland, in Glasgow, in Lisbon and in the United States. In 2023 Winners Gallery presented her first solo show in China, "The Women Made by Odin", with 37 paintings and 8 sculptures from across her career.

Her art also appears in the film Angels Never Cry, and she created trophies for the Volcano Iceland race.

See more of Tobba's work

You can explore more of Tobba's paintings and sculptures on her own website, artbytobba.com.