BIOgraphy

Born in Iceland, Eydís S. Luna Einarsdóttir is a visual artist with a lifelong, far-ranging photographic practice. Growing up amidst Iceland’s striking visual environments, she developed a close relationship with the camera early in life. In 1990 her passion for photography brought her to the United States, where she studied at Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA (BA, 1993). There after Eydís stayed on in the USA, spending majority of the time in California and New York City, before settling in Vancouver in 2005. She has worked, on both sides of the border, as a Commercial Photographer and Retoucher for clients such as Leo Burnett, Ogilvy, lululemon, Earls Restaurant Group, Montecristo Jewellers and retouched images for Estée Lauder, Shisheido, Almay, Neutrogena, ELLE magazine, Vouge and Harpers Bazaar along with dozens of other clients.

Eydís has pursued a visual art practice for many years, with exhibits of her work in Vancouver, New York City, and Reykjavik. She has sold her limited-edition photographic prints worldwide, and in 2014 her work was profiled in TED.com’s premier book release. In 2015, Eydís was commissioned by the Young Adult and Family Center at the University of California, San Francisco, to supply photographic works for a “Breathing Room” on the Center’s gritx.org website, and in 2019 her work was featured with an eight-page spread in a special edition of Elle Greece Magazine titled “Living in the Now.”
Eydís has received several awards over the years. *Listed below.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Photography has been at the centre of my life and creative practice from my earliest years, having been raised in an artistic family amidst Iceland’s remarkable natural environments. What developed at first into a successful commercial photography practice became, over time, a personal artistic vision. Given my origins, I am drawn to the ocean shore when seeking stillness and repose, and my photographic work to date has explored the formal expressions of natural water in its various states: the diverse, variegated surfaces of seas and lakes, sometimes almost metallic, and the horizon’s unflinching, linear perfection.

My approach is rooted in a deep understanding of light and lighting gleaned in the course of my commercial practice; as such, I relate strongly to Icelandic painter George Gudni’s approaches to atmosphere, light, and landscape, as well as to the works of Mark Rothko. More lately, what began as a search for stillness has since led to a new affinity for natural textures and forms in motion, both terrestrial and aquatic. My most recent works thus aim to portray the natural world in its essential dynamism—like the artist’s practice, a continual cycle of formation and reformation.

“The act of capturing movement, creating something which is beyond our visible means is a cathartic experience for me. Simply a place of being, seeing and moving. In the end, the full potential of my movements comes to light once the "negative" is processed.”

EDUCATION & experience

1998 - 2022 Freelance Photographer & Retoucher,
Fort Lauderdale, Florida / New York, New York / Los Angeles, California / Vancouver, BC.

1997 Staff Photographer, Fróði Publications, Reykjavík, Iceland

1993 - 1996 Custom Colour Printer, Colour Services, Santa Barbara, California, USA

1990 - 1993 BA - Brooks Institute of Photography, Santa Barbara, California, USA

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

2013-2015 Visiting Photography & Retouching Educator, Van Arts Institute of Media Arts, Vancouver, Canada

EXHIBITIONS & PARTICIPATIONS

2022 Harmony Arts Group Exhibition, West Vancouver, BC, Canada

2018 “The Art of Stillness” Selected works showcased at Westeck Windows Showroom, Vancouver, BC, Canada

2014 “Pieced Together” The Cultch - Group Exhibition, Vancouver, BC, Canada

2014 Eastside Culture Crawl, Vancouver, BC, Canada

2013 Eastside Culture Crawl, Vancouver, BC, Canada

2013 “Adventures Across 7 Seas” Online and Outdoor Multimedia Presentation of 35+ Worldwide Photographers
showcased at Photoville NY by United Photo Industries Brooklyn, NY, USA

2013 “Skies Of Iceland” Slideluck Vancouver, Group Show, Vancouver, BC, Canada

2008 “Bloom” The Flower Box - Solo Show, Vancouver, BC, Canada

2008 Tricera Imaging - Image display showcasing different papers by Epson, Vancouver, BC, Canada

2007 Eastside Culture Crawl, Vancouver, BC, Canada

2004 ”Andstæður” Thorvaldsen Restaurant & Art Gallery - Solo Show, Reykjavík, Iceland

2002 “Colours” Private Business - Solo Showing, New York City, NY, USA

AWARDS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

2022 INTERNATIONAL COLOUR Awards, Nominee: 15th Annual: Nature

2021 INTERNATIONAL COLOUR Awards, Nominee: 14th Annual: Abstract

2020 INTERNATIONAL COLOUR Awards, Nominee: 13th Annual: Abstract

2018 BLACK & WHITE SPIDER Awards, 13th Annual, Nominee: Fine Art

2015 APPLIED ARTS Photography Awards: Complete Book "The Art of Stillness" written by Pico Iyer,
Published by TED Books and Simon & Schuster

2014 HASSELBLAD MASTERS FINALIST: Fine Art & Product

2013 APPLIED ARTS Photography Awards: Still Life

2013 APPLIED ARTS Photography Awards: Photo Illustration

2013 BLACK AND WHITE SPIDER Awards, 8th Annual, Nominee: Abstract

2012 INTERNATIONAL LOUPE Awards, Silver award: Illustrative

2011 APPLIED ARTS Photography Awards: Portraits

2006 INTERNATIONAL PHOTO Awards, 1st Place: Special effects

2006 INTERNATIONAL PHOTO Awards, Honourable Mention: Fine Art Portrait

PUBLICATIONS

2019 “Living in the Now” ELLE Magazine Greece, EASY LIVING (Special Editions) Feature, pg 78-85

2014 "The Art of Stillness, Adventures of going nowhere" written by Pico Iyer, Published by TED Books and Simon & Schuster

Commissions

2015 “Breathing Room” gritx.org, Young Adult and Family Centre, University of California, San Francisco, USA

art Donations

2019 For The Children We Care Gala Auction, BC Children’s Hospital, Vancouver BC, Canada

Private Collections by Country

Canada, Iceland, United States of America, England, Australia, India