Lina Iris Viktor

Lina Iris Viktor embellishes her intricate, sumptuous canvases with 24-karat gold, offsetting minimal color palettes and varied black tones. The artist’s work spans and variously combines elements of performance, site-specific installation, sculpture, painting, and photography. Viktor frequently uses gold leaf and the technique of water gilding to generate her labyrinthine compositions, which occasionally become backgrounds for striking portraiture. Her rich constructions invoke elements of abstraction and figuration and take inspiration from ancient cosmologies and the African diaspora. They offer trenchant commentaries on the historical, social, and material implications of black and gold. Viktor has exhibited in New York, London, Stockholm, and Seattle. Her work belongs in the collections of the National Museum of African Art, the Hessel Museum of Art, the Crocker Art Museum, and Autograph in London. In 2018, she was chosen as a member of The Artsy Vanguard.