In the coastal town of Keflavík, a utilitarian water tower now draws its share of attention for something far removed from its original function. Since 2013, this nine-meter-high, thirty-six-meter-circumference structure stands draped in a vivid, large-scale painting, regarded as Iceland’s largest artistic wall painting. The work is called Uppspretta, a word meaning “source” in Icelandic.
Rather than a simple mural, Uppspretta blends local lore, elements of nature, and the imaginative style of the international Toyist collective. The water tower’s transformation was sparked in part by the group’s earlier project in Emmen, the Netherlands, where a gas container became an artwork. Eleven Toyists from five countries collaborated in Keflavík, enduring the worst Icelandic summer weather in ninety years. Conventional materials failed to protect the painting in stormy conditions, with strong winds tearing plastic coverings. Instead, two hundred sewn coffee bags secured the site, both practical and unusual, highlighting a blend of improvisation and determination.
A modern legend on concrete
At the centre of the mural is Uppspretta, a puffin crafted as a legendary character especially for this artwork. This curious bird seeks to discover the world, reading up on Icelandic history and learning that the first Icelanders might have come from Norway. Flying against his parents’ advice, the adventurous Uppspretta does not reach Norway but instead finds himself in the Netherlands, where he dreams of music, people, and an eventual return to Iceland aboard a dream boat.
On his homecoming to Keflavík, the puffin wins a partner from Norway and takes the mantle as the leader of all Icelandic puffins. The story mirrors themes of curiosity, travel, and return familiar in Icelandic sagas and echoes the journeys that have shaped the nation itself.
Icelandic symbols and influences
The mural weaves in symbols meaningful to Iceland’s identity. One scene draws direct inspiration from Sólfar (the Sun Voyager), a sculpture in Reykjavík by Jón Gunnar Árnason. In both, a dream boat embodies the spirit of adventure and the urge to journey to new realms. Other motifs include a Viking longship, and a depiction of Freyja, the Norse goddess of love, seen here as a nod to the enduring presence of mythology in Icelandic culture.
Toyism’s style resists easy classification, blending figurative imagery with fantastical and philosophical layers. Their approach produces art that feels at once familiar and otherworldly, an effect well suited to Iceland’s reputation as a land of contrasts.
Uppspretta’s location in a popular recreation area of Keflavík places the mural within the rhythm of daily life, offering a reminder that even the most functional landscapes can yield new stories.
