Not having to define oneself is precious - Interview with Klara Rosatti

Image: Klara Rosatti

Birgitta Björg Guðmarsdóttir (she/hers)

Klara Rosatti is an artist whose work was displayed all over the city during Reykjavík Pride this past summer. White beings of all shapes and sizes engaged in intimacy - with one another or by themselves. The beings often wear hats decorated with LGBTQIA+ flags, sometimes they’re covered in tattoos, some are disabled and occasionally observed in an X-ray fashion or showing their internal structure, such as their uteri or hearts. Klara’s art has a soft, feminist and decisively loving quality to it.

Klara says that she didn’t feel like labeling herself for a long time, but says that today she’s comfortable in her skin as a bisexual woman (she/her).

Sometimes I wonder which suits me better, pan or bi, but I think I’m pretty comfortable with the term bi. It doesn’t exclude attraction towards genderqueer people or trans people, so I think it fits me well.

I spent a large part of high school in a long-term relationship, and I didn’t really consider my sexual orientation all that much. I spent a lot of time around queer people, but I didn’t look within until later, and started asking myself questions about my own sexuality. After this long-term relationship ended, I found myself on a Tinder date with a girl, and I just felt that - I don’t know, I’m not ready to define this. Then I dated girls, made out with girls - all the while thinking to myself ‘whatever happens, happens’ and choosing not to define it further. Which was quite alright. I just felt more comfortable with that approach at the time. I didn’t think it should matter. If I know how I feel, that’s none of anybody’s business. But nowadays I connect with the term bisexual.

By Austurvöllur, a series of Klara’s photos were exhibited during Reykjavík Pride. Her exhibition is named Furðuleg (an Icelandic word which can be translated as queer or strange, but the latter part, -leg, also means uterus), a name fitting for her artwork and creatures. Klara says she chose the name because of how strange she finds uteri, but also to honor her own strangeness.

I’ve always found the uterus to be a strange and extraordinary phenomenon. And I’m always ready to embrace it, when I don’t have my period. Then my period starts and as much as I love the uterus and this system of cleansing and bleeding, I feel like a monster, kind of, or a blob of something… bleh. But the name - I like the wordplay. I’m weird and the uterus is weird. The name encompasses both myself and weird uteri.

The beings who grace Klara’s artwork stem from her perception of her own body, and she describes her art as graphic diary entries.

I’ve always had some complexes regarding my body- what it looks like, I’ve always been a bit overweight and had to learn to deal with my own prejudice (which I’ve thankfully unlearned today), and I’ve had to learn to accept its function, especially regarding menstruation and such. My head was a bit chaotic - I could feel that I needed to change my mindset but I wasn’t sure how to go a bout it. I’ve been drawing ever since I was little - so my drawings started evolving into diaries. It’s what I love most to draw - because I know it’s completely mine.

I never had as much fun drawing realistic drawings, so I tried taking everything I liked least and presenting it in a way I enjoyed looking at - sort of in a way tht made me see things in a positive way. And because the beings I draw are sort of soft in their nature, I wanted soft lines in the background. The creatures are a little bit in-your-face, but not in an uncomfortable way (at least not to me). I don’t feel as if this is pointed feminism, it’s more of a - radical softness. To project something big through something soft. I feel like that’s how I am, radical inside but soft on the outside.

Klara states that she was pleasantly surprised when offered to be a part of Reykjavík Pride and host an exhibition in Austurvöllur.

It was so much fun and I wasn’t expecting it at all. There was a competition held to choose the poster for last year’s Pride, which I participated in but didn’t win, then they contacted me this year and invited me to design the poster. I, of course, just said YES! They mentioned something about bus stops, and then I started receiving images of bus stops and advertising signs all over Reykjavík. I really didn’t expect it, and my art was suddenly everywhere. I sadly wasn’t in the country to witness it myself, but maybe that was for the better - maybe it would have turned into a huge ego-trip. That wouldn’t have been good. I’m just so grateful for this whole thing.

And my exhibition in Austurvöllur - they offered me a spot during Reykjavík Pride - so I thought it would only be up during that time. I didn’t know until I was informed that my art had been vandalized that it was still up - then I learned that some neo-nazis had vandalized it!

When asked how she felt after her exhibition was vandalized, Klara says that this turn of events made it clear how important it is to be actively supportive of the queer community.

I tried not to think about it too much. I received a lot of positive messages. And I was aware that if it hadn’t been my pictures, something else would have been vandalized. What I struggled most with was how I wasn’t really that surprised. Similar things have been happening, and they could happen to anyone. It didn’t feel like a personal attack aimed at me, but an attack towards the entire community. It makes it clear how important solidarity is, and how things like these bring people together, there’s so many things that need to be fought for, constantly.

I also like to think that if neo-nazis don’t agree with the things you’re doing, you’re probably doing something right.

Klara is currently studying in France, and plans to focus on her studies as well as being creative.

What I’m studying is sort of a link between science and art - learning how to teach or explain scientific concepts through art. After graduating, many move on to draw for medicine textbooks and such. The focus is art’s connection to science, all fields of science. I’ve begun to sell part of my work and will continue to do so, as well as focusing on my studies for the next couple of years. I feel like I’ve found exactly what wnat to do - what really drives me. I try to communicate love through my creatures, love of oneself and love between two or more people. I’m trying to be more open. Letting myself find love. Being more receptive to it. To allow myself to love and be loved.