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Birgir Breiðdal is an artist from Iceland whose life and work are based on the power of astrology. His long path brought him to the understanding that the stars and the balance can make people more confident and happy in life. In the creation of his works, he uses mostly ash and lava as main materials.

How does the situation correlate with a phrase on you t-shirt? Which country, Italy or Iceland, has influenced your path as an artist?

It is not as romantic as you think when you begin. I started architecture in Milan. It was hard learning. They taught deeply about the proportions of Michelangelo etc. I liked the school and competitions in architecture but I did not like sitting in front of the computer and just drawing and stressing out. There was not a lot of creativity. ”Everything has to be ready yesterday”. All the creativity, that I thought architecture was, was away. One day I had enough. I was sick of it, draining my spirit. I did not want to go to work anymore. My mum was inspiring me a lot. She believed in me. She said: ”Iceland is too small for you. If you like painting, make an exhibition”. After that I bought 20 big canvases. I painted everything in 1 week from scratch. I made an exhibition and sold everything. After that I said: “It is better than to sit in front of the computer. I can control my time. I paint when I want to paint”. At that point I decided to leave architecture. It was a really lonely road.

Everything started in 2004. It was difficult to be an artist in Iceland because there were not a lot of people to create a market there. After that, I painted in Lake Como. I was selling a lot. Then we had a financial crisis in 2008 which impacted me immensely… So the best choice was to move back to my country.

Paintings from lava and ash from erupted volcanoes

Which country, Italy or Iceland, has influenced your path as an artist?

Both. The inner core is more Iceland. The installation, proportions, shapes come all from Italy… but I feel my soul is French, especially Parisian, I always feel at home when I am in Paris and I have a lot of very close and good French friends.

Is the culture of Iceland strict?

The problem of Iceland is that it can sometimes be close-minded as, I guess, it is everywhere else. I feel after Covid people are losing too much and too fast their independence, people are more agreeing with other people’s opinions instead of having their own, the fear is a big part here. You have to be a person who you want to be, not be a person who people want you to be. I discover that very late but it is transformative.

What was the life changing moment? Do you remember that day?

In 1991 I spiritually opened. One day I woke up in Italy like a medium. I felt illuminations, I had super strong intuition all the time. It was a very difficult time, especially 30 years ago, no one understood me. I felt very lonely and scared. I lost my old Biggi. Sometimes I did not want to go to the studio and to be around people, however, when I was a painter, it was all easier, I was on my own and I was protected more. I did not want to have these abilities at this time, but now with more experience and self love, I would never want to go back to old Biggi, sometimes it is hard but I feel I am growing every day and hoping to be the best version of me always.

Do you mention this part of you in your works?

When I paint, I get out of the box. I express that when I paint I have no idea what I am painting. I just paint and after – it feels good. It helps me mentally, because creativity is a big thing of being Biggi in balance.

It was a very hard period at that time and it was not possible to speak about my condition. People In Iceland have strong characters and also quite closed, and timid. At that time we did not talk about feelings, especially men, it is opening more up now but still long way to go… I want to mention it can be really hard to be a man, also maybe I have no interests in playing that “men need to be like this” role then things start to be frustrating, so here comes in VenUs Inside, means just be fully you, express what you really are on the inside.

You worked in football. Why do you consider it as a one more life-changing period?

Occasionally, I became a coach of a kid’s football team in Iceland. I had a different approach to kids. I wanted to help girls, for them to have strong characters and believe in themselves because sometimes they lack it.One day all my anxiety went out. I felt that my natal chart was fully in action while coaching. It was unbelievable how good it is to operate in the Now and really express as your natal chart offers you. You have to respect your energies. If you do not express them daily in positive way, it becomes the opposite – negativity, irritations, anger etc. I am very good to read basic needs of people so they can fulfil their potentials, better for them, better for the society.I was studying astrology for 30 years before I started football. We are quite spiritual in Iceland. I read my first yoga book like I already knew it before. To go to coaching I valued it from astrology. I was the shyest person on Earth. I was really shy. I felt blocked, but, stepping into my natal chart energies, all pain dissolved and vanished.By the way, I am Virgo, however, how I work is Leo. And I felt it when I came to the pitch. I felt at peace. I got addicted to this work. I felt good all the time fully working at my innest core.I felt connections: that one kid should play with another exact kid because they have a strong connection. According to the signs and their natal charts, I started building pairs in teams. I saw it daily processing in front of me with my own eyes, felt magical. Then I analysed the best football players in the world, I understood why some of them win when they play together and when they are separated – no. I became some kind of a “guru” there haha. In football you are in the hardest place to convince people about astrology. The Icelandic team in EM 2016 was deeply connected without anyone around the team to know it.

Could you tell more about your VenUs project?

This project got racines very long ago when I was in Italy. I bought a lot of clothes. When I came back to Iceland I kept these clothes in the wardrobe abroad because I did not want to be noticed. I wanted just to be normal, not use my clothing as it was a statement. At one moment my soul started to heal. I asked myself: “Who are you, Biggi? You are always afraid of what others will think. It is going to be okey”. I just took little Biggi and I took care of him through self-love and self- respect. So I say today : “Don’t hide VenUs inside”.

“VenUs Inside” is a project about our hidden dreams which has a purpose to encourage us to show more the yin part of us in the yang driven world.

Women’s clothing is made in a men’s way. You can wear everything. I try to connect these 2 worlds. I like to colour my nails but many would think that I am weird. My mum carried me for 9 months in her belly and it is more from a woman in me and in every person, too many neglect that too much, especially we men. It has nothing to do with sex, just the difference between female and masculine energy, we need to balance these 2 things more.

We need more Venus, more peace in all our conversations, approaches, and mindset. Respect others.

I am working on exhibitions in 2023 in France where the concept is “VenUs Inside” – where I manifest these energies through my paintings, fashion design, filmmaking and music

First scratches of paintings of souls of a family from Philadelphia “VenUs Inside”

How are astrology and your work related? Do you suppose that you have the best selling paintings at the exact position of the moon?

I feel when the moon is new. Better to start everything at the new moon. I get a lot of ideas at the first part of the growing moon and then start working on them .

Do not think that something is bad or good, positive or negative. First part is good to decide things and then the second part is to make actions. I like more the rising moon part, it is just more me I have lot of fire in my chart so I become very alive in this phase.

My mood depends on it too. Many laughed at me when I started doing astrology. At the beginning I could not share it. I could be open only with women about it, but in France I can be really open with it and also with my clothing.

Who did you share this part of your life with?

With my mum and wife. I am a man but I love astrology. Unfortunately, still a lot of men are embarrassed to acknowledge it in public, but same men often believe in it.

What is the meaning of the concept of yin and yang for you?

The world is made to be Mars. We have to fight all the time. Everybody values more things from Mars than Venus, what have you achieved is. People care more about your status (materialistic) less about your feelings, you have to nurture both. It is all about balance. Nothing is black and white. If you want to be strong in the world, you have to be more like a man. The world is a very Mars oriented place. I tended to hide my Venus part in me, to protect me so people would not judge me. People judge us all the time, it is normal that we start to evolve that protection mechanism. I am much more me today than I was, and I feel much better coping with every day life than before because I feel I am in control of my life and how I feel .

I feel that we always have to stay “strong”. We have been taught by the society, that we need to be like this or that, showing a more masculine part of us to cope with everyday life. Both energies are innate in us all but I feel, to maintain balance, we must feed more our the Venus Inside, meaning both men and women. Otherwise we are not manifesting the best version of ourselves. The war in Ukraine is unbalanced Mars. We need more Venus in our world to balance the energy in the world.

What contribution do you want to make to society?

All my life is about that. When I worked in a football team I wanted girls to be strong and confident. I am a broken kid, I wanted kids to be on the right path, not to face the same, we need more inspiration and less criticism.

The project Venus that I am preparing with my colleagues is a contribution to the world too. My clothing, music, art, astrology – I believe that what I’m offering in my art is what makes this world a little bit a better place, I need to do my part. I am just like 1 of 7 billion people in this world but important as we all are

If someone offered you billions of dollars for stopping your career as an artist, what would you say?

The answer is definitely no. I do not know what I would do with myself, because creativity is me so that would stop and I would stop being me. I do not value money. I value life: how many things I am doing. The reason I want money is not to put them in the bank. If I had this money, I would like to use that billion to create my projects and make many more new ones that I think could benefit for the society, like the VenUs Inside project. Money is energy.

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