"Roots" (Rætur), Steinunn Þórarinsdóttir – Bankastræti, Reykjavik

Roots is a public sculpture created in 2000 by acclaimed Icelandic artist Steinunn Þórarinsdóttir, installed on the sidewalk of Bankastræti, one of Reykjavik's busy shopping streets. The work is made of cast iron and corten steel, measuring roughly 180 x 60 x 80 cm.

The piece depicts the torso and head of two figures encased in rectangular blocks — some viewers see them as bronze-like boxes, others as suitcases. The two figures face one another, yet one gazes upward while the other looks down toward the ground, both seemingly frozen in place as pedestrians move around them.

The work is characteristic of Þórarinsdóttir's broader practice: transforming raw, hard, cold materials into human-like forms, often anonymous and androgynous, to explore themes of alienation and the challenges of the modern human condition. Roots is one of several of her sculptures found throughout Reykjavik, alongside works like Prospect on Vesturgata and Directions at Keflavík International Airport.