Naja Abelsen

Naja Abelsen (born 1964) is a Danish-Greenlandic painter and illustrator. Much of her art is inspired by the myths and sagas of Greenland. In addition to her work as a book illustrator, she has designed 18 stamps for Post Greenland.

Biography Born on 19 April 1964 in Brønderslev, Abelsen is the daughter of a Greenlandic father, the teacher Adolf Konrad Boas Henrik Abelsen, a teacher, and a Danish mother, Kirsten Fokdal, manager of an old people's home. As a child, she spent nine years in Greenland's Qaqortoq where she was exposed to the cultures of both Denmark and Greenland. After attending Kunsthøjskolen i Holbæk (Holbæk's art folk school), she spend two years at Billedskolen in Copenhagen (1987–89) followed by six years at the Danish Design School (1990–96).

Selection of books illustrated by Naja Abelsen