Jón Adolf Steinolfsson

A native Icelander, Jón Adólf Steinólfsson was born in 1959 in Reykjavik. He grew up in Southern Iceland hearing tales of Nordic lore. He expressed an interest in the art of woodcarving at an early age; however he didn’t fully embrace this craft until receiving a very special Christmas gift from his mother in1987. It was a certificate for a woodcarving course. He continued formal training under master woodcarvers at the Hannes Flosason School of Wood Carving from 1986 until 1995. A residency followed at the Geisler Moroder School of Carving in Austria in 1995. He then attended the Kopavogur Visual Arts College in Iceland from 1996 to 1999. Jon was privileged to study under and work beside acknowledged world-class master wood sculptor, teacher, and author Ian Norbury at his studio in England from 1996-1999.

While still an emerging artist, his work began to draw public and media attention early in his career. A few of his accomplishments include co-founding Iceland’s first woodcarving guild and acting as its president for many years. Jon was also a sought out to create the award given to the winner of The Samfes Design Competition of fashion designers at their awards ceremony in Reykjavik, Iceland in 2004. In 2006, he received the Icelandic National Award for Work of the Year at the Craftman Show in Hrafnagil. He was also part of a select group of Icelandic multimedia artists invited to exhibit their works before the new U.S. Ambassador to Iceland at the 2007 Fine Art Show held at the NATO Airbase in Keflavik, Iceland.

Jon shares his love of carving with others, having taught numerous woodcarving classes for students at all levels of expertise. He has organized and facilitated international master wood carvers to provide wood sculpting courses for his students.

The love of Norse mythology and deep respect for his native Iceland are clearly evident in Jon’s works. From the genesis of his career, the creative spirit of his talent and excellence in the mastery of his craft has served as a synergistic force reflected in his art. Jon has great range in his works, ranging from contemporary styles and whimsical reflections on the instruments of music and modern communications technology to works that reflect the influence of mythology, old cultural references and centuries-old traditions. Many of these pieces also reflect the artist’s feelings toward issues of social justice. Perhaps Jon’s brilliance as an artist is best seen in his driftwood carvings. The individual pieces of wood may lie dormant in his workshop for some time until the designs reveal themselves to the artist. Jon’s deep respect for the wood ensures that each piece of driftwood will take on just exactly the form it was intended to be.

In addition to being part of private collections around the world, his work is now on permanent public display in the United States in the Icelandic Room of the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle, Washington.