Galleria Huuto | Uudenmaankatu | 2008
I felt an urge to portray the human being and to carve wood. This was a brand new situation, as I usually have an idea, and the idea then finds a means and material. My previous works, too, have dealt with the human being or humanity – however, this has happened through absence, such as with traces, wear and tear, or dirt. This time, I wanted to sculpt concrete human figures.
I decided to work by instinct and see what the figures will be like, and how they will be related to each other. During the sculpting process, I took each figure as an individual, but the group formed by the individuals became the most important element. In the final works, the figures have settled in a group portrait, where rest enables humans to make space for themselves.
The last work for the exhibition at Galleria Huuto was an installation consisting of plaster sculptures in which a crop has been destroyed by a plague. After finishing the work, I realized I had returned to traces.