In the valley of the dead kings, 2026, single-channel video installation, 27m 31s.
ever after, 2026, CRT monitor, 5m 32s loop, in foyer.
The installation was originally inspired by stories from my dad's raves. Where he would set up muslin mazes to confuse the police when they got busted. This has evolved into a pathway with the intention to lead rather than confuse. Allowing moments to wash up into view and give you fragments, as if through a crystal ball.
in the valley of the dead kings is a video collage portrait that explores a walk I took with my friend Charley Mayhew in the South Downs and Kingley Vale. I reflect on folklore and storytelling through the lens of my own personal experiences.
Waking up at the top of the ridge, walking to the road, picking up all that’s left in your bag. Making marks into the limestone, sand, and mud hoping that it will last the night. I keep seeing things in the wind, maybe not things more like shapes and colours, wisps of personality, laughs, cries and freak outs, anything that can’t be nailed down.
Having a uniquely global identity between Iceland, the US, and mixed Asian heritage, I have evolved a particular sensitivity and attention. My practice further cultivates this sensibility by confronting minute aspects of everyday life, whether it be ancient folk stories, intrusive thoughts, or catching glimpses through neighbourhood windows at night. This can lead me to a space that is between the conscious and unconscious; an abyss of complications and feelings that are hidden in the cracks of everyday life. I navigate inner realities through an expanded practice of film, installation, drawing, and more. My work enables layered reality to exist in its totality, contradictions and all.
finnurkaldi.cargo.site/
@finnurkaldi
vimeo
ever after, 2026, CRT monitor, 5m 32s loop, in foyer.
The installation was originally inspired by stories from my dad's raves. Where he would set up muslin mazes to confuse the police when they got busted. This has evolved into a pathway with the intention to lead rather than confuse. Allowing moments to wash up into view and give you fragments, as if through a crystal ball.
in the valley of the dead kings is a video collage portrait that explores a walk I took with my friend Charley Mayhew in the South Downs and Kingley Vale. I reflect on folklore and storytelling through the lens of my own personal experiences.
Waking up at the top of the ridge, walking to the road, picking up all that’s left in your bag. Making marks into the limestone, sand, and mud hoping that it will last the night. I keep seeing things in the wind, maybe not things more like shapes and colours, wisps of personality, laughs, cries and freak outs, anything that can’t be nailed down.
Having a uniquely global identity between Iceland, the US, and mixed Asian heritage, I have evolved a particular sensitivity and attention. My practice further cultivates this sensibility by confronting minute aspects of everyday life, whether it be ancient folk stories, intrusive thoughts, or catching glimpses through neighbourhood windows at night. This can lead me to a space that is between the conscious and unconscious; an abyss of complications and feelings that are hidden in the cracks of everyday life. I navigate inner realities through an expanded practice of film, installation, drawing, and more. My work enables layered reality to exist in its totality, contradictions and all.
finnurkaldi.cargo.site/
@finnurkaldi
vimeo