Memories: Dieter Roth in my life

Art therapist Sigríður Björnsdóttir provides a rare testimony of her marriage to Dieter Roth as well as their artistic collaborations.

Sigríður Björnsdóttir met 22-year-old Dieter Roth in Copenhagen in 1952. A year later, Roth joined her in Reykjavík, and in 1957 they married. 50 years later, Björnsdóttir recounts their meeting, the ups and downs of their marriage, their life with their children and their eventual separation. Beyond her own artistic activities, Björnsdóttir describes her collaborative and experimental work with Roth, their encounters with friends and peers within the tightly woven Icelandic creative community and the beginnings of Roth's multifaceted practice. Dieter Roth in My Life is an honest and personal account of a period in Björnsdóttir's life, shared with a man she describes as the love of her life who went on to become a successful and highly influential artist.

Sigríður Björnsdóttir (born 1929) is an art therapist and artist living in Reykjavík. She graduated from the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts in 1952 and went on to become a pioneer in art therapy, practicing in Iceland and lecturing worldwide.