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Artists 2024

Japanilainen käsityötaiteilija Asami Munejina työskentelee ryijyjen parissa. Suomen rakastajaksi ilmoittautunut Asami haluaa tutustua suomalaisiin ryijyihin sekä etsiä työskentelyynsä inspiraatiota suomalaisesta luonnosta ja maisemasta. Hän tulee etsimään suomalaisia materiaaleja luodakseen töihinsä erilaisia värejä ja tekstuureja. Asami työskentelee Mäntässä helmi–maaliskuun ajan and laittaa ryijyjä myös residenssin galleriaan esille yleisön nähtäväksi.

Amanda Vähämäki on Helsingissä asuva sarjakuvataiteilija ja kuvittaja. Serlachius-residenssissä Amanda työskentelee helmikuun ajan viimeistellen yhden luvun sarjakuvaromaanistaan Taikakoulu. Sarjakuva käsittelee menneisyyden ja nykyisyyden rinnakkaisuutta, muistoja ja ylisukupolvisuutta. Todellisuus ja fantasia kietoutuvat tarinassa yhteen. Mänttä paikkakuntana kiinnostaa, koska Amandan suvussa on kuorevesiläisiä ja Mänttään sijoitettuja Karjalan pakolaisia. Juurettomuus onkin yksi Amandan työn teemoista.

Jirko Viljanen on Lahdesta lähtenyt ja sittemmin turkulaistunut kuvataiteilija, joka työskentelee Mäntässä maaliskuun ajan. Hän käyttää ja yhdistelee taiteessaan esimerkiksi tekstiä, piirustusta,grafiikan vedoksia ja pieniä veistoksia. Serlachius-residenssissä Jirko jatkaa kokonaisuutta, jossa tarkastellaan henkilökohtaista hukkumista ja sitä, millainen vaikutus siitä selviämisestä on ihmiseen. Teokset tulevat esille Helsingissä vuonna 2025 järjestettävään yksityisnäyttelyyn. Varsinaisen residenssityöskentelyn ohella hän syventyy kokeilemaan ja harjoittelemaan musiikin ja äänitaiteen tuottamista.

Kuvataiteilija Heikki Hautala asuu Serlachius-residenssissämaalis–kesäkuun ajan. Porista Mänttään työskentelemään saapuva Heikki keskittyy pääasiassa maalaamiseen ja piirtämiseen. Hän tekee teoksia tulevia näyttelyitä varten mutta paneutuu myös uusien ideoiden, menetelmien ja tekniikoiden suunnitteluun ja toteuttamiseen. Tavoitteena on myös yhdistää kuviinäänimaisemia ja tekstiä.

Valokuvataiteilija Yujie Zhou käsittelee taiteessaan kriittisesti sosiaalisesti rakennetun kollektiivisen identiteetin suhdetta ihmisen yksilönä kokemaan identiteettiin. Kiinassa syntynyt Yujieon asunut ja opiskellut Helsingissä. Aasialaisena hän on vähemmistön edustaja Suomessa. Yujien poliittinen taide kritisoi muun muassa hänen synnyinmaansa sensuurijärjestelmää, minkä vuoksi hän ei voi elää vapaana taiteilijana kotimaassaan. Tämäkahden kulttuurin välissä eläminen, siihen liittyvät jännitteet ja konfliktit näkyvät myös hänen taiteessaan. Yuije keskittyy käsittelemään vähemmistöryhmiä sekä niitä, joita valtajärjestelmä sortaa. Mäntässä hän asuu heinäkuun ajan.

Kuvataiteilija Tuija Teiska on kotoisin Kajaanista ja asuu Helsingissä. Serlachius-residenssiin hän tulee työskentelemään elokuussa. Tuijan teoksissa on vahva henkilökohtainen ja psykologinen lataus. Kuvataideakatemiasta vuonna 2016 valmistunut taiteilija työskentelee monipuolisesti käyttäen installaation, veistoksen, videon, performanssin ja esinekollaasin keinoand. Hänet tunnetaan muun muassa tekstiiliveistoksistaan. Serlachius-residenssissä Tuija aikoo keskittyä piirtämiseen ja performanssiin.

Suvi Vepsä on taidehistorian väitöskirjatutkija, joka työskentelee residenssissä elokuun ajan. Mäntässä hän viimeistelee väitöskirjaansa, jonka yksi osa käsittelee taiteilija Egle Oddon vuonna 2021 Mäntän kuvataideviikoille toteuttamaa teosta Performative Habitats. Yhteistyö italialaisen Oddon kanssa alkuvuonna 2021, kun Vepsä teki työharjoittelua Mäntän kuvataideviikoilla ja Oddo toteutti Kuvataideviikoille puutarhateoksen. Teoksessa koriste- ja hyötykasvit kasvavat vierekkäin villien kasvien kanssa. Ne kasvavat edelleen Pekilon läheisyydessä. Myös Egle Oddo tulee vierailemaan residenssissä, and Suvi ja Oddo järjestävät residenssissä yhdessä näyttelyn ja työpajan.

Intialainen journalisti ja kolumnisti Arundhati Deosthale tulee Mänttään heinäkuuksi tutustumaan suomalaiseen nykytaidekenttään. Arundhati kirjoittaa parhaillaan viikoittain ilmestyvää kolumnia, and haluaisi kertoa myös suomalaisesta taiteesta. Hänen tarkoituksenaan on lisätä suomalaisen taiteen tuntemusta Intiassa ja luoda siltoja intialaisen ja suomalaisen taidekentän välille.

Japanilainen kuvataiteilija Rica Shimabukuro matkustaaMänttään syys–marraskuuksi nykyisestä asuinmaastaan Ruotsista. Hän työskentelee paperileikkausteniikalla. Taidokkaiden ja kiehtovien teosten teemoja ovat muistot, tunteet ja ajan kuluminen. Paikallisetkin pääsevät tutustumaan paperileikkaustekniikkaan työpajassa, jonka aiheena ovat Mäntän luonto ja historia.

Kuraattorit Lin Chih-Tung ja Noora Lehtovuori (Taiwan ja Suomi) tulevat Mänttään syys–lokakuussa tutustumaan taidekaupungissa työskenteleviin taiteilijoihin: paikkakunnalla jo pitkään asuneisiin, vasta muuttaneisiin and kaupungin eri taidekohteiden näyttelyitä varten kaupungissa oleskeleviin taiteilijoihin. Heidän tavoitteensa on käynnistää keskustelua nykytaiteesta sekä paikan vaikutuksesta taiteelliseen työskentelyyn. Residenssin aikana on tarkoitus myös luoda työhuonevierailulle malli, jota voisi hyödyntää muuallakin.

Eileen Ryan on monitieteinen taiteilija Massachusettsin koillisosasta. Hän tutkii teoksissaan muun muassa lajien välistäkommunikaatiota ja ei-inhimillisiä kokemuksia. Eileentyöskentelee installaatioiden, performanssin ja maalaustaiteen parissa. Mäntässä hän jatkaa vuonna 2022 Örön saarella aloittamaansa projektia, joka käsittelee ilmastoa ja ekologista tuhoa myyttien ja tarinoidan keinoin.

Toista kertaa Serlachius-residenssiin tuleva Aleksi Kolmonentyöskentelee Mäntässä neljä kuukautta heinä–lokakuun ajan. Residenssissä Aleksi jatkaa kuvasarjaa, joka käsittelee hänen omien feminiinisten puoliensa hyväksymistä ja niistä ammentamista. Hän haluaa luoda ylpeää ja anteeksipyytelemättömän kaunista kuvastoa sukupuolivähemmistöistä. Aleksin työskentelyn teemoja ovat häpeästä pois oppiminen ja tiukkojen sukupuolinormien haitallisuuden pohtiminen.

Simon Whetham on englantilainen äänitaiteilija. Hän matkustaa Mänttään Bristolista ja työskentelee Serlachius-residenssissä kesäkuun ajan. Mäntässä Simon jatkaa kineettistä ääniprojektiaan, jossa aikoo käyttää paikkakunnalla kuulemiaan ääniä taiteensa materiaalina. In her project Simon hyödyntää käytöstä poistettuja ja vanhentuneita moottoreita and laitteita, aktivoimalla ne uudelleen.

Taiwanilainen Kuan Hsin-Yu on tottunut asumaansuurkaupungeissa. Hän asuu Taipei Cityn kaupungissa ja on valmistunut Lontoon Goldsmithsin yliopistosta. Mänttään ja Suomeen hän hakeutuu, koska haluaa kokea aivan toisenlaistaelämäntyyliä. Suomalainen mytologia, sadut ja ilmasto kiehtovattaiteilijaa. Marras–joulukuulle ajoittuvan residenssijaksonsaaikana hän aikoo tutkia suomalaista kansanperinnettä. Lopputuloksena syntyy sarjakuva, joka ammentaa suomalaisesta mytologiasta ja tarinoista.

Suomalais-tunisialainen Dora Dalila Cheffi tulee joulukuuksi Serlachius-residenssiin tekemään maalauksia sekä videoteoksen yhdessä tunisialaisen performanssitaiteilijan Amenallah Atrousin kanssa. Teokset käsittelevät Doran suhdetta hänen isäänsä, joka muutti Suomeen Tunisiasta 1980-luvulla. Maalaukset ovat muotokuvia taiteilijasta ja hänen isästään ja ne pohtivat suhteen monimutkaisuutta – molemminpuolista rakkauttasekä odotuksia ja pettymyksiä.

Yilin Ma, Finland Ma on Helsingissä asuva kuraattori ja kirjoittaja. Hän työskentelee Serlachius-residenssissä heinäkuun ajan näyttelyn kuratoimisen parissa. Yilin Ma, Finland tekee myös esseekokoelmaa ja videoesseetä, joiden aiheina ovat queer-narratiivi kuvataiteen ja kirjallisuuden kentällä.

Itävaltalainen Anita Gratzer on Serlachius Residenssissä kolmatta kertaa. Hän saapuu Mänttään tammi–helmikuuksi toteuttamaan alakoululaisille suunnattua Art Castle-projektia. Art Castle on Serlachius-museoiden ja Serlachius Residenssin organisoima lasten ja nuorten monitaiteinen kulttuuriprojekti, joka järjestetään nyt kolmannen kerran. Tällä kertaa mukana on Pirkanmaan alueen 5.-luokkalaisia sekä alakoulun erityisryhmiä. Anita on kutsuttu projektiin kansainväliseksi taiteilijaksi ja hän toteuttaa yhdessä kuvataiteilija Kirsimaria Törösen kanssa työpajoja koululaisille. Taidelinnan teemana on tällä kertaa Ötökät!

Ville Vuorenmaa on Oulussa asuva kuvataiteilija, muusikko ja lauluntekijä. Hän maalaa vesiväreillä  figuratiivisia, pohdiskelevia, sarjakuvamaisia teoksia, joihin yhdistyy usein myös teksti. Maalausten kuva-aiheet voivat olla henkilökohtaisia tai kuvitteellisia sekä näiden yhdistelmiä.

 


Artists 2023

Aleksi Kolmonen (b. 1996, he/him) graduated from the Pekka Halonen Academy as a visual artisan in 2015 and is now finishing his studies at the Turku Arts Academy. Kolmonen is interested in exploring gender and sexuality through art. Freedom, play and finding connection are the most important aspects of his work.

In residency, the artist aims to create a series of photographs about accepting and embracing his feminine sides. As a trans man, exploring and acknowledging these sides has naturally been challenging. 

Eriko Fujita (b. 1981) is a Japanese artist who completed her master of fine arts studies in the United States. During the COVID-19 period, she specialised in mokuhanga, Japanese water-based woodblock printmaking, which can also be done at home.

At the Serlachius Residency, she plans to make woodcut graphics on handmade paper, inspired by the Finnish landscape. The works will be exhibited in a solo exhibition to be held in Japan in 2023.

Lauri Mäkimurto (b. 1984), a visual artist living in Tampere, has focused particularly on painting in recent years. He is also creating an autobiographical comic strip series. His paintings are often based on photos from a family album. The painting process directs familiar matters into new contexts, forming a kind of self-ironic portrait.

At the residency, his goal is to paint a new set of works for an exhibition to be held at Galerie Pleiku, Berlin in July 2023.

Luciana Mariano (b. 1971) is a Brazilian artist living in Pirkkala. She will receive Finnish citizenship in 2023.

At the residency, her plan is to create naive paintings and sculptures that depict her new life in Finland. She would like to show an exhibition of her works across Finland in small municipalities, day care centres, schools, public spaces and towns where there are no museums.

Minjee Hwang Kim (b. 1991) is an artist living in Helsinki whose family roots are in South and North Korea. She has studied rites of passage related to femininity, reflecting in her works her own and her family’s experiences, when women have moved from one country and culture to another in pursuit of a better life.

At the residency, her work will relate to water and walking in it. Runaway Girl – Water includes paintings, drawings and texts, which she plans to create around the water close to the residency.

Tomás Creus (b. 1973) is an Argentinian-Canadian film-maker who lives in Germany. At the residency, he will plan, write and shoot a new film entitled The Stuff of Dreams, which is set in the early 20th century.

The film combines acting and animation. It tells of a lonely librarian who suffers from sleep problems and is looking for a solution to them. Although the film is not explicitly set in any country, the author hopes to be influenced by the Nordic atmosphere.

Riina Noro (b. 1981) is a visual artist who, in her works, extensively combines different methods of visual art. In her textile sculptures and her paintings, she addresses current social themes without forgetting the individual’s perspective. Noro lives in Helsinki and has worked at the Autism Foundation Finland’s Art Studio in Vallila since 2013.

Riina Noro was chosen Artist of the Year 2023 by Kettuki, an advocacy organisation for artists from outside the mainstream art world. The award included a period of work and an exhibition at the Serlachius Residency in spring 2023.

Anne Chen (b. 1991) is an American master of fine arts of Chinese descent. She works with textile-related handcraft techniques as well as ceramics and mixed media. She is interested in the movement of objects around the world and through different markets.

Her Dadstockproject is a cross-disciplinary study based on her father’s collection of Chinese art and objects. She has taken photographs of these objects and made a number of reproductions using different techniques. As the project progresses, she has expanded her study to, among other things, digital museum archives of Asian art. At the residency, she wishes to continue this study and create new works.

Ilai Lehto (b. 1988), a visual artist and a master of fine arts living in Kangasala, mainly works with textile sculptures and wool felting. In his artistic work, he has examined the exercise of power in a patriarchal society, comfort objects, and the cycle of items from raw material to waste.

During the residency period, he plans to produce a new series of textile sculptures from recycled materials and felting wool. He also intends to record the soundscape of Mänttä-Vilppula and possibly incorporate it into the body of work created at the residency.

Katja Öhrnberg (b. 1970), a visual artist living in Fiskars, paints large-scale serial paintings on canvas, primarily with acrylic colours. Since 2017, she has increasingly focused on abstract expression, combining in her works constructivist and expressive painting language.

During the residency period, she plans to paint and produce works that combine collage and painting, with influences from Africa as well as the working class culture of Mänttä. She would also be interested in making installations based on recycled materials and in a collaborative project with a local artist or young people.

Henri Tuominen (b. 1983) is a visual artist and master of fine arts student, who works in oils on canvas. In his paintings, he deals with the theme of power, and particularly structural violence.

In the past, he has examined the dark sides of power, mainly in the relationship of one human being to another. At the residency, he will also address humans’ power relationship with animals. During his time at the residency, he will combine in his works the tradition of portrait painting and animal imagery in a manner that calls into question the power relationship of humans with other species of animals.

Henrik Härkönen (b. 1989), a visual artist living in Vantaa, and has a master’s degree in fine arts. He attended the Serlachius Residency in 2020, when he worked on large sculptures.

Now the plan is to continue the form language of the sculptures towards installations that use light and water in addition to physical materials. From wooden planks and battens, Härkönen builds house-like structures that contain geometric shapes. He uses natural light, lamps and video projectors as light sources. At the same time, he is continuing his study of the effect of light and shadow on the human mind.

Tadeo Muleiro (b. 1983) is an Argentinian visual artist and teacher. He studies images and mythologies related to Latin American cultures, connecting them to his large-scale textile works. The sculptural works are also connected to our own time through subjects taken from, among other things, pop culture, science fiction films and comic strips.

At the residency, he wants to become familiar with ancient Finnish and European mythologies and create a textile work combining elements of Finnish and Latin American cultures.

Lotta Lemetti (b. 1995) is a photographer and visual artist who lives in Indonesia. She is working on her long-term photography project Thinking of Blue Skies, which combines different photographic processes and installation techniques into a coherent, visually powerful entity.

At the residency, she plans to focus on one part of the three-part project, on developing various cyanotype techniques and deepening her expertise in the techniques. A cyanotype is a photograph made without a camera, where a material is sensitised to light using iron salts. The end result is a beautiful blue-and-white photograph imprinted on the selected material.

Minttu Saarinen (s. 1987) on Hämeenlinnassa asuva kuvataiteilija (YAMK), joka piirtää residessijaksonsa aikana Mäntän seudun äänimaisemia.

Her works are based on the changing soundscapes in different localities as well as human activity and its effect on the soundscape. She draws soundscapes at different times of the day and in different settings. She will use ecological tools and experiment with different techniques, possibly adding to the works some materials from the environment.

Verena Issel (b. 1982) is a Norwegian artist who lives in Germany. She has master’s degrees in both art and in the Latin and Ancient Greek languages

She makes installations, which might fill the entire exhibition space – floor, walls and ceiling. The installations consist of various objects related to a specific theme. At the residency, her plan is to make art, particularly from felted wool, take photos and shoot videos.

Miiro Valle (b. 1990), a visual artist from Oulu, will create paintings and collages for his upcoming exhibitions. He is interested in culture in general and its various manifestations. History, science, technology and spirituality are also subjects of interest.

Artistically, he says that he is in a kind of transition phase and believes that the peaceful residency period will clarify the vision of the new phase and develop him as an artist both technically and content-wise.

Sanni Saari (b. 1990), a visual artist from Tampere, makes audio and video installations. At the residency, she will work on a piece in which experience and atmosphere play the main role. The starting point is the idea of a spatial experience where the visuality and soundscape of the video installation lead the viewer inside the work.

Her work is experimental and intuitive and it mainly takes place outdoors. Often, the final form of the work is completed only at the last stage of the process.

Onur Tayranoǧlu (b. 1999), a Turkish master of fine arts living in Helsinki, specialises in live art and performance. He explores and experiments with social performances and games, seeking safe spaces for groups that deviate from the mainstream.

During his residency period, he wants to work with local young people and attempt to discover how, in a small town, they create comfortable, safe spaces for social interaction


Artists 2022

Anita Gratzer from Austria is in the Serlachius residency for the second time. The previous residency period was a year ago. Anita builds architectural wearable paper sculptures for which she obtains material from local flea markets. In addition, Anita takes photos of people dressed in paper costumes on black-and-white film. 

I am interested in modifying clothes in the direction of an individual protective shield. How we define our personal space and hide under layers of design and pattern, and how wearable sculptures themselves can turn into architecture and become an extension of our own being. Most of my works have been created in residencies abroad and influenced by local cultures. Along with Switzerland and Japan, Finland has become one of my favorite destinations over the years.

Mänttä-born Paula Salmela lives in Porvoo. She works in a versatile way with sculpture, installation and conceptual art.

During her two-month residency period, Salmela learns about her family's photographic memories by examining old photographs and negatives stored in a shoe box. The pictures taken since the 1950s build the artist's self-image and family and local history, revealing things that could have influenced the kind of person and artist he has become.

Residency and freezing months beckon. It's nice to bask in residency with old negatives and new acquaintances. A return to childhood in many ways: in pictures, spaces and words.

Milja Viita (b. 1974) has graduated with a master's degree in visual arts from the Academy of Fine Arts in 2005. She works with film and video and has toured many film festivals.

Her works usually get their content either from nature experience or natural scientific phenomenon. Her work Eläinsilta U-3033 has been awarded at the Tampere Film Festival in 2019.

In the Serlachius residency, she continues to research the interaction between animals and humans.

Ilkka Väätti (b. 1955) paints with acrylic colors on watercolor paper. In Mänttä, he makes new sketches for his works and estimates that he will finish fifteen sketches in a month. 

Väätti worked in Mänttä for a month in June 2015. It was an interesting and profitable time. Now he wants to experience the same again. He plans to get to know the milieu of the factory town, because on the previous visit he missed many places without seeing and experiencing them. In addition, he goes to see all the exhibitions on show in Mänttä. 

I haven't had time for a residency for a long time, and now it's time to renew my expression in peaceful conditions.

Stan Petrusa (b. 1951) has studied ethnology and philosophy in Croatia and cultural anthropology and art management in the Netherlands. He has worked for three decades in various positions as director of cultural institutes and curator of museums.

Before his retirement in 2017, he worked as the director of the Kampen city museum. He has organized exhibitions presenting contemporary art and design and written publications especially about Dutch artists. 

Working couple Stan Petrusa and Gijs Dragt interview interesting people working in the field of culture during their residency period and photograph them in their own environment. They want to have discussions about the future prospects of these people in their own communities and their tasks in relation to the digitalizing world. 

Gijs Dragt (b. 1955) studied at the Art Academy Kampen in the Netherlands. He works as a graphic designer, photographer and painter. He has made many art books for well-known Dutch publishers and museums. He has also published photo books of his own production. Dragt's photographs and paintings have been exhibited in many galleries and museums. 

Together with his working partner Stan Petrusa, he interviews interesting people working in the field of culture and photographs them in their own environment. They want to have discussions about the future prospects of these people in their own communities and their tasks in relation to the digitalizing world. 

Hanneriina Moisseinen is a Finnish comic artist who has been awarded, among other things, the state award for comic art in 2016 and the Puupäähattu award in 2021. Moisseinen graduated with a master's degree in visual arts from Aalto University in 2017.

The comic book "Marita Heikkinen's life" deals with themes related to life and birth. It is a social, fictional story about lonely people who dream of their own family.

In the work, two bachelors from the provinces follow the fictional podcast series "Marita Heikkinen's life", in which Marita Heikkinen, a single woman from Helsinki approaching the age of forty, gets pregnant with imported Danish sperm after first trying to conceive a child with gay men she knows, without success. She is a real person I know, who appears in the comic book under a different name and who, on her own initiative, wanted to have her story published in the form of a work of an art. Marita Heikkinen's parts are based on interviews I have done over the years.

The plot of the cartoon unfolds around today's events, but also contains historical descriptions of single mothers and children based on archival sources. 

Visual artist Fanny Varjo lives in Turku. She graduated in 2021 from the Art Academy of Turku University of Applied Sciences.

Varjo's work is often motivated by an interest in the parallels between the carnality of the human body and the elements of nature. A body of work consisting of six sculptures Visions, 2021, a body of work consisting of six sculptures was exhibited in 2021 in Mänttä in Realm of Fine Arts exhibition.

I find fascinating the parallels between the carnality of the human body and the elements of nature, which often lead to the creation of sculptures and installations. I gently combine different materials, such as dyed hair on the surface of a painted wooden sculpture, aiming for some kind of tension. I feel that the sculpture becomes corporeal when the folds and colors of its surfaces are associated with human skin or its surface is covered with hair. This kind of corporeality creates ideas about alienation, which often recurs as a theme in my works, in addition to power and the tension between nature and man. I am interested in how we perceive and control the environment and how we see ourselves and our own corporeality in relation to it.

During the two-month residency period, I will start working on a new installation project. The installation consists of sculptures of different sizes, inspired by the similarities in the carnality of the human body and the elements of nature. 

Misha del Val is a Spanish visual artist and curator. Raisa Raekallio is a painter. They have been working together since 2013. The artist couple lives in Kittilä, Lapland.

In Mänttä, Misha del Val and Raisa Raekallio continue their series of paintings, where they paint together on the same canvas. Misha del Val also focuses on designing two exhibitions which he is going to curate.

Visual artist Jenny Yppärilä graduated from Aalto University in 2010. Yppärilä is known for her three-dimensional paintings depicting buildings, which she has been making for ten years.

Yppärilä has been in the Serlachius residency for a month in 2018. During the profitable period, she says that she completed a number of works which corresponds almost half an year's work.

This time, Yppärilä wants to focus on renewing her own artistic work and expression. There is a project Good Life in progress, which examines power and capitalism from the point of view of how it affects the construction of identity and the search for a good life.

Visual artist Ellis O'Connor's subject is often the landscape, which she depicts by painting and drawing. 

In the residency, I spend some time exploring and getting inspiration from a region that is previously unknown to me. I'm using the new environment to focus on making small sketches on paper with the future in mind. They provide the basis for large oil paintings that I paint in my studio.

I am very ready to get new inspiration and spend time in a new place that will provide me with much needed source material and enriching experiences that will benefit my work for years to come.

 

The project The Echo of the Void that Cristiana de Marchi started in 2021 will continue during the residency. In her project, she examines human rights in the light of political violence. Her work is based on prison cells documented by human rights activists. The smallest of cells has been just two square meter in size. The work Christiana is at present knitting represents this kind of a cell.

The work is complemented by her second series about the death penalty, which consists of pieces realized by knitting and embroidery using different techniques. These two series refer to countries where the death penalty is still in use and at the same time make us think about the right of states to use violence.

Visual artist and researcher Pedro Hurpia comes from Brazil. He works mostly with video and photography.

In Mänttä, Hurpia makes a fictional story that deals with old beliefs about the soil's energy fields. The denial of science and the spread of collective beliefs are often a theme in his art.

 

Salvesen (b. 1990), who lives in Helsinki, works especially with light. He studied at the University of the Arts and graduated with a master's degree in 2018. Salvesen's works have been seen, for example, at Mänttä Art Festival.

During the residency, Salvesen works mainly with the last part of a three-part series of works, which currently bears the working title Water Steam. Through the work, Salvesen has considered ice, liquid and in general the importance and circulation of water on Earth.

Salvesen emphasizes in his works the unity of colors, space and shapes and wants the viewer to find peace of mind through his works. Salvenen seeks inspiration from nature, but his work is also influenced by political or socio-economic issues and climate change. 

Caroline Clerc is a Los Angeles-based photography artist who also makes sculptures. Clerc's work begins with long walks, during which she takes photographs and collects abandoned objects and pieces of wood she finds along the routes.

In the studio, the photos of the route are combined into photographic works, and the collected objects take the form of an improvised sculpture. The artist is fascinated by the stages of change, which can be seen both in old and cultivated forests or, on the other hand, equally in garbage piles. Her work is a tribute to nature. At the same time, the works comment on our uncertain relationship with nature, which is constantly threatened by the effects of climate change.

Yasushi Koyama (Japan / Finland) is especially known for his endearing animal sculptures, which have also been seen at the Mänttä Art Festival in 2017.

During his residency period, Yasushi carves parts of kelp wood for his series depicting dancing bears, as well as a few other animal figures.

Roberto Nassi's project is to write through poems and picture a meditative travelogue Melete Thanatou progressing amid death, art and nature.  

In her project Chronomap Valeria Bertesina interviews local people about their relationship with their hometown. The same project is also implemented in a small town of similar size in Italy. Valeria also works on small artist books made from paper and paints watercolor works.

Kaija Hinkula is a Finnish visual artist who works with painting and installations and also uses found objects in her works.

In the Serlachius residency, Hinkula designs and implements new works. Colorful installations and sculptural paintings build a surreal landscape where logic and irrationality, utopia and reality meet.

In his work, visual artist Eetu Kevarinmäki has studied, for example, the aesthetics of hate speech on social media. Kevarinmäki graduated from the Art Academy of Turku University of Applied Sciences in 2021.

During his residency period, Kevarinmäki deepens his thinking about his work and creates new works for a solo exhibition opening in 2023 at the Gallery Halmetoja.

Jolene Mok, who grew up in Hong Kong, works experimentally with photography and film. He also has British citizenship. Mok has been to the Serlachius residency for the first time in 2015.

In Mänttä, Mok makes art films using different formats. The works document the forests surrounding Serlachius Museum Gösta and Einola. During the residency, she also studies ecological film development methods.

Visual artist Takeshi Moro was born in Japan, grew up in Great Britain and currently lives in San Francisco.

In Mänttä, he has worked several times with asylum seekers in Mänttä-Vilppula. In 2013, Moro's photographs of the first Afghan refugees in Mänttä were seen at the Serlachius Museum in Gustaf. When the refugee crisis in the Middle East and Africa reached Finland in 2015, Moro worked at the Serlachius residency with the aim of decompressing the tensions created by the crisis. The artist invited community members to participate in a multinational karaoke project.

When he came to the residency this summer, he found out that by chance he arrived in Mänttä-Vilppula on the same day as the first Ukrainian refugees. In his conversations with Pavel, a Ukrainian refugee and Afghanistan war veteran, he discovered an amazing relationship between Ukraine and Afghanistan.

Kaori Yamashita (b. 1978) is a Japanese artist currently living in San Francisco. She makes place-situated sculptures and installations from found and recycled materials.  

Lately, he has been interested in burial mounds made of stones and their many meanings. Throughout history, man has stacked stones for various purposes, a large part of which has remained a mystery. Inspired by this history, Yamashita has made the act of stacking stones a part of his work in Mänttä.

 

Scottish artist George Finley Ramsay (b. 1988) makes films, poems, music and installations. His themes can range from theology to geology.

Ramsay has worked as a teacher at several universities, such as the Royal College of Art, Queen Mary University and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art. 

In the residency, Ramsay shoots a poetic short film inspired by epics such as Kalevala and Ossian Songs.  

Artists 2021

Martirene Alcántara (b. 1965), Mexican visual artist specialised in photography and architecture living in the United States.

In this chaotic time of pandemics, violence, political disarray, and financial uncertainty, it is a gift and relief to be able to sit and appreciate artwork that brings us peace and tranquility, to have a truce with shocking or tormented images and being able to pause, even for a slight moment.    
 
Martirene

Amanda Assaley, visual artist from the United States.

Hello from Chicago! 

Coming from this glacier-formed landscape to Mänttä's, I am eager to stay and work among the Finnish Lakeland biota and geology. My goal while at Serlachius is to push the ways in which I manipulate my sculptural materials and to test new directions with video. I am currently researching Pectinatella Magnifica, a species of bryozoa, that is native to where I grew up in the United States and which I have learned is sadly a recent invasive species threatening aquatic ecosystems in Finland. Other areas of ongoing research that I am looking forward to expanding during my time at Serlachius include vernacular architecture, mollusks, sustainable concrete, and all forms of calcium carbonate. I am so very excited to meet the community of Mänttä and spend next spring with you!

 

Wishing you safety and health, 

Amanda

 

Valeria Bertesina (b. 1961), Italian curator and artist.

Hello everyone! I’m an Italian artist and curator from Vicenza. Very soon, I’m going to sketch out the plan for the art project I thought of for my future artist’s residency in Mantta. The project is likely to consist of two parts: one will be developed in Italy and one in Finland. What I can reveal now is that it won’t concern just me and my perception, but the local community and the ‘soul of your place’, something ancient Romans used to call the ‘genius loci’. 

Greetings from a hot Italian summer!

Karla Caprali (b. 1971), Brazilian visual artist and teacher living in the United States.

Hello from Miami!
 
I am so excited in joining fellow artists at the Serlachius Residency in the fall of 2021 at Mänttä. See you there.
 
Karla Caprali

Kirsimaria Törönen (b. 1969), visual artist from Mikkeli, Finland.

At the Residency I am able to experiment new materials and techniques in connection with a new series of artworks. I decided to try if I can make sculptures of paper; within a month one can see whether it is a total disaster… or just something along those lines? 

Maria Fonzino (b. 1980), Italian choreographer, dances and author, who works in communal performances.

The desire to come back to Finland has been exhausted.
Now, step by step, breath after breath I'm creating a new dance to share with you.
Can't wait to see you in Mänttä.
 
Greetings from Paris,
With Love
Maria’

Sami Funke (b. 1968), photographer and photo artisan from Mikkeli, Finland.

Greetings! A few days at home then back to raoad again. A photographer, I travel a lot, though due to corona time manly in Finalnd and minding safe distances all the time.

This summer from the southern islands of Åland Island up to north to Utsjoki in Lapland.

It is interesting to see what the year 2021 brings along, my calendar contains already a working period at Serlachius Residency in Mänttä and a couple of exhibitions, at least!

Sami Funke

Anita Gratzer (b. 1968), visual artist and photographer from Austria.

Hello!
 
Hello    I am cooling down in the the sunny south of Switzerland. My five month in residential exile are at the end. How is the weather in Mäntää? Hope you are well. I really looking forward to meet you all.

I made new experiences hiking in the Swiss Alps, but the winter in Finland will be exceptional. Don’t miss Austria at all.

See you soon, best wishes and kisses, Anita

Katriina Haikala (b. 1977), free artist and facilitator from Helsinki, Finland.

"I believe that the art - as everything else in the society - is an inherently political space. Therefore I want to create art work to affect positive change in our society. The power of art as a way to concretize abstaractions allow it to illuminate, reconstruct and reinvent our world."

 

I'm looking forward to working at the Serlachius residency and interacting with the history of art because history of art is history of power.

 

Kind regards,

Katriina Haikala

Iris Honderdos (b. 1958) and Arno Peeters (b.1969), an artists group from the Netherlands specialised in installation, communal art, photography and sound and media art.

Greeting to your followers:
Since we experienced Finns and their culture during our residence in Ekenäs in 2008, we are thrilled to expand our fascination for Finland in a new community art project! 


Warm greetings,

Arno and Iris

Steffen Mischke (b. 1982), visual artist, art student and teacher from Germany.

Hi everybody from boiling hot Dortmund/Germany. I'm happily looking forward to spend the next summer up north in Mänttä, where I expect snow and frozen lakes ;)

See you soon, 

Steffen

Nana & Felix Working couple, formed by Kim Hwanhee (b. 1980) from South Chorea and Felix Nybergh (b. 1985) from Finland.

Hello,

We are Nana & Felix, a Korean-Finnish artist duo. We are scheduled to be working at the Serlachius residency in November and December 2021.  

At the moment we are working in Helsinki, on a year-long painting project in which the daily air quality readings of Helsinki and Seoul are translated into colour. The final installation will consist of 366 diptych paintings that form a calendar of the year 2020, a sort of colour-chart landscape that is made of, and portrays, the air pollution of the total 366 days of the year.

Next year, before coming to the Serlachius residency, we will spend most of our time working in Seoul, our other home city. We are already looking forward to peace and quite of Mänttä – pretty much the opposite of what Seoul offers.

See you in Mänttä next November, and meanwhile, if you want to know more about what we are up to please follow us on instagram @nanaanadfelix and our website www.nana-felix.com.

Makiko Nishikaze (1968), Japanese video artist, composer, performer and pianist living in Germany.

Hello everyone.

 My name Nishikaze means west wind in Japanese and 
my project at the residency is "Wind in Mänttä".
 I am looking forward to experiencing the wind visually, acoustically and physically.
 West wind is coming to you in 2021!

Best wishes from Berlin,

Makiko Nishikaze

Mariangela Pluchino (b. 1991), Italian Venezuelan psychologist and film director from Helsinki, Finland.

"I hope to find in Mänttä a silent dialogue that allows me to travel through the different layers of my script-writing project. I have the feeling that what I´m looking for, it´s somewhere in the surroundings of an Art Nouveau former farmacy".

I attach a portrait of me. Made by Tiia Suorsa (for credits). 

George Finlay Ramsay (b. 1988), visual artist from Scotland whose instruments are performance, music and poetry.

Hi my name is George,  
here’s a pic of me just before seeing a raven doing loop the loops at the top of balduff, the hill at home.
I think i look a bit like a raven in the picture.
I like ravens and volcanoes. Some of my recent work is about these things.
As i write this i feel like i sound like i should say something clever and adult,
but i’ve got nothing like that for you today
 
x
g

David Revés (b. 1992), researcher and curator from Portugal.

Hi! I'm David and I'm a researcher, art critic and independent curator from Lisbon, Portugal. My work passes through an intersectional thinking where I try to cross a thought about digital media and new technologies with perspectives on the formation of individual and collective bodies in the spectrum of political landscapes.

Looking forward to be in Serlachius Residenssi and have the opportunity to deepen my work as an author as well as meet new people, establish new relations and get to know Mänttä. 

Noa Rodriguez (b. 1996), graphic designer and illustrator from Spain.

Hi!
I’m Noa, I'm a designer and visual artist born and based in Madrid. Two years ago I completed my bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design and I've been working as a post production graphic designer ever since, spending most of my spare time concentrated on my artistic endeavors. Serlachius Residency is going to be my first opportunity to fully focus on my artistic career and I can't wait to start!

Gabi Schaffner (b. 1965), German sound artist, author and radio producer.

Dear Ystavät,  
while I sit in my Berlin garden, I found this picture from Sicily. It shows one of my main occupations: Traveling to preferably empty landscapes, recording sounds and listening to: wind, shortwaves, voices…

I will try to set a small radio station at the residency: Kaamos Radio, a wintry off-shoot of my garden radio project Datscha radio. I hope you are all fine, looking very much forward to meeting you in the (almost) darkest time of the year,
 
Gabi

Kari Soinio (b. 1962), visual artist living in Helsinki, Finland.

Greetings!

Greetings from a memorable spring and summer when nothing was the way that it used to be.

Not in the world nor in my own life.  

I have swum a lot and read my father’s diaries, trying to recollect all the memories.

Kari Soinio

Miya Sukune (b.1979), visual artist from the U.S.A.

Greetings!

I’m writing from the Pacific Northwest in the US, where autumn is arriving with crisper air. I work in multiple mediums - oil paint, watercolor, ink and metal - and you can see my work at www.miyasukune.com. www.miyasukune.com

I’m very pleased to be returning to Finland, and especially Mänttä, to delve into a project focused on winter life there.

Cheers,

Miya

Artists 2020

Who: Mari Ahokoivu, Denmark

What: Mari Ahokoivu, a Finnish comic strip artist and illustrator living in Copenhagen, draws comic strips for both adults and children. The award-winning artist’s work have been published in Finland and abroad.

Project in Mänttä: On her residency period she is going to work her comics arrangement of Edith Warthon's novel Lady’s Maid’s Bell. Novel that is published in 1902 is a classical ghost story that meets all the Gothic main features all the way from manor milieu. Main theme of the story is desperation.

 

Who: Martirene  Alcantára, Meksiko

What: Martirene Alcantára, from Mexico, is a photographer who captivates with her abstract approach to making art.

Project in Mänttä: Martirene Alcántara’s images are based on the encounter between the permanence of architecture, and the ephemerality of light. Her images form an evolutionary continuum, showing the transformation of the material into the intangible. Architecture is converted into alternate dimensions, playing with light and contrast, until the purity of the line is reached. Eliminating the superfluous to create an object sustained by the pure form. Metamorphosesproject.

Who: Kate Bae, USA

What: Born and raised in South Korea, Kate Bae is a visual artist and curator, currently based in the New York area of the USA.

Project in Mänttä: Bae has a migrant background and she's interested in perusing and analyzing identities. In her art she concretely unleashes her studies: first she trickles acrylic paint on the

Who: Caroline Clerc, USA

What: Caroline Clerc, who lives in Los Angeles, is a photographer and assistant professor at the University of Southern California.

Project in Mänttä: In her art, Clerc has pondered the human relationship with nature and landscape. At the moment of seeing, the landscape seems permanent and calm, but in reality it is not what it seems. In Mänttä, Clerc wants to walk through nature and photograph her surroundings. The final works will be created in the studio when she reconstructs several exposures into a single photograph using digital methods. Thus the creation of the final image will be guided by the artist’s empirical memories.

Who: Cristiana De Marchi, Lebanon

What: Born in Italy but settled in Lebanon, Cristiana De Marchi is a textile and video artist.

Project in Mänttä: During her residency period, De Marchi intends to devote her time to a new series of works, a world map in monochrome embroidery that illustrates environmental justice. The abstract, aestheticised embroidery shows the causes and consequences of resource exploitation, waste and environmental degradation and commercialisation. The project is a natural extension to De Marchi’s artistic career, during which she has addressed extensively societal issues such as migration and human rights.

Who: Janette Holmström, Finland

What: The works of Janette Holmström, an Imatra-based visual artist, convey perceptions of time and place, the relationship between people and environment, and the importance of this relationship in the formation of identity.

Project in Mänttä: During her residency period, Holmström intends to make exploratory hikes into her surroundings. In recent years, he has photographed objects she encounters on the streets that people have abandoned and released from their meaning on being rejected. How could they be given new meaning? How can the life cycle of things intended to be disposable be shaped at a time when everything is already in abundance?

Who: Juliana Hyrri, Finland

What: Juliana Hyrri was born in Estonia but now lives in Helsinki. She mainly produces comic strips but also a diverse range of other artistic work, often inspired by elements found in nature.

Project in Mänttä: In recent years, Hyrri has been collecting stories about her own life and others’ with the aim of compiling them into graphic short stories for her upcoming work Russian Child. She will continue this work in Mänttä. The book is inspired by the concepts of cultural identity and integration, change, and linguistic and cultural heritage. Hyrri seeks to portray misunderstandings that have made the individual appear to have lived in an imaginary reality. She wants to show the moments of revelation that make a person look at the world in a different way.

Who: Henrik Härkönen, Finland

What: Henrik Härkönen’s artistic style is material aesthetic Abstract Expressionism. It depicts internal feelings via a non-representational form.

Project in Mänttä: Project in Mänttä: In Mänttä, Härkönen wishes to articulate the malaise and melancholy of the xy generation. At the residency, he plans to turn his earlier spatial works into three-dimensional sculptures. The intention is to transform location-specific, large-scale but stylistically minimalist forms – circles, triangles and crosses – into an ensemble of smaller sculptures, drawings and monotypes that the artist can send to galleries in Finland and worldwide.

Who: Esa Laaksonen, Finland

What: Esa Laaksonen is an architect and non-fiction writer, also known as Director of the Alvar Aalto Academy.

Project in Mänttä: Esa Laaksonen was at the Serlachius Residency for the first time in autumn 2018, when he worked on his doctoral thesis Atmosphere as mediator of architectural experience. In his upcoming residency, he intends to continue on the same subject but also to write about the architecture of Helsinki’s unrealised Olympic buildings. In addition, his plans include a new project on Alvar Aalto’s temporary world exhibition pavilions in Paris (1937) and New York (1939).

Who: Yen-Hua Lee, Taiwan

What: Yen-Hua Lee, from Taiwan, is a visual artist who is captivated by the concepts of time, space and memory.

Project in Mänttä: At the Serlachius Residency, Yen-Hua Lee will continue two of her long-term projects. In her series of works Book Project, launched in 2006, Lee explores the similarities between memory and book browsing. Home Project extends memory trace research into the home. In paintings, sculptures and installations, the artist seeks to depict the relationship between people and space in their homes. During her residency period, Lee wants to see what forms these two projects can assume in Mänttä.

Who: Hannu Lukin, Finland

What: Visual artist Hannu Lukin, a long-time teacher of fine art at Liminka School of Arts, is known for his large, expressive paintings.

Project in Mänttä: Hannu Lukin applied to the Serlachius Residency primarily to prepare for his upcoming art exhibitions in Kemi and Budapest. He is also fascinated by the waterways around Mänttä, which in the glowing light of a Finnish summer’s night are attractive subjects for painting. In addition, Lukin would also like to organise art education and workshops in the community.

Who: Guido Mitidieri, Italy/Finland

What: Italian architect, scenographer and artist Guido Mitidieri works particularly in nature, with natural materials. At the same time, he wants to learn more about himself, his heart and our planet.

Project in Mänttä: Mitidieri was in Mänttä in spring 2019. The theme of his residency was to study the natural landscape of the locality, particularly spring and summer growth, the rebirth of nature. As a product of the residency period, Mänttä obtained, among other things, a land art work beside Lemmenpolku, the path of love. In 2020, the artist returns to the residency, this time with the death of nature, moving from autumn to winter, as his theme. He aims to implement a new land art work in Mänttä on this theme.

Who: Takeshi Moro, USA

What: Born in Japan but settled in the USA, Takeshi Moro is a visual artist and photographer who is also a teacher and researcher at Santa Clara University in California.

Project in Mänttä: Moro is an experienced visitor to Finland and Mänttä. The upcoming residency is his fifth visit to Mänttä. Many remember Moro’s project from 2015, in which he produced karaoke videos with local people and residents of Mänttä reception centre. This time, he plans to shoot short films, with Mänttä and Mänttä residents once again cast in the leading roles. Moro wants to present local historical narratives and show the importance of ordinary, everyday stories. In his project, Moro will continues his characteristic communal approach to working.

Who: Maria Mäki, Sweden

What: Born in Finland but settled in Sweden, Maria Mäki is a photographic artist and photojournalist.

Project in Mänttä: Mäki has studied the work of the American Farm Security Administration photographer Barbara Wright. In 1937, Wright made a journey from America to Europe and Finland, where she photographed rural areas and people in the vicinity of Pekkala Manor in Ruovesi. During her residency period, Mäki would like to reconstruct Wright’s visit to Finland and present through moving images, sound and still images what it might have looked like in 2020. She also intends to include in her pictorial travel diary historical photographs taken by Wright.

Who: Anna Ruth / Äkkigalleria, Finland

What: Äkkigalleria is an artist-run, nomadic contemporary art gallery, which was established in Jyväskylä in 2009. Its intention is to make visual arts and their presentation more energetic and event-like – to create alternative venues for the arts and artists.

Project in Mänttä: Project in Mänttä: Äkkigalleria aims to organise in Mänttä’s town centre and streets a number of cross-disciplinary art projects in summer 2020. The intention is also to involve local parties in the urban art projects.

Who: Minna Soraluoma, Finland

What: In recent years, visual artist Minna Soraluoma has been looking for large, quantitative narratives and has been working on her diary keeping.

Project in Mänttä: The public’s interest in diary keeping led Soraluoma to consider theatrical, functional and communal ways of approaching diaries. Could one write a diary with others? During her residency period, Soraluoma would like to experiment with diary workshops and continue her artistic work with diaries. She is also attracted by smaller, experimental writings on visual art.

Who: Martirene Alcantara, Meksiko City.

What: Visual artist Leila Tanskanen is interested in darkness. She has addressed the theme through painting, drawing and the monotype technique. 

Project in Mänttä: In Mänttä, Tanskanen would like to continue on the theme of darkness. She intends to interview people about darkness and base her works of art on the experiences uncovered. Could the experience of the fear of darkness be captured in a work of art? Tanskanen is also fascinated by fading light in a landscape and the way other senses are strengthened when the power of vision is limited.

Who: Kim Hwanhee & Felix Nyberg, Korea/Finland

What: The artist duo Nana & Felix, namely Korean Kim Hwanhee and Finn Felix Nyberg have worked together since 2012. Often they address in their art with the way that images are constructed and the role images play in constructing our social and cultural environment.

Project in Mänttä: At the Serlachius Residency, Nana & Felix will continue the SoMe project they began in 2013. In it, they explore and try to understand the relationship between photographs and real life in an world that’s becoming increasingly digital. They collect and document images and advertisements, particularly online, and then cut and shape them into three-dimensional works.

Who: Marika Krasina & Anton Kryvulia, Russia

What: Marika Krasina from Russia and Anton Kryvulia from Belarus form a group entitled Rabota, which does performance art.

Project in Mänttä: In Mänttä, Krasina and Kryvulia plan to implement their Light in a Room project. First, the artists depict the shadows and reflections formed by various symbols and words when light is shone from behind them on to the wall of a dark room. After capturing the text, they want, they instal it on a wall. In this way, the artists study the movement of light in time. The project is a natural extension to the duo’s performative installations, where objects tell stories about the real life of the artists.

Who: Marko Marin, Finland

What: Marko Marin is a photographer living in Mänttä.

Project in Mänttä: Mänttä-based Marko Marin applied to the Serlachius Residency for working space to develop his photography in studio conditions. The artistic content of his work in Mänttä still undecided, but Marin is interested in portraits, of which he is planning his own exhibition. Implementing some kind of community project with local youth services is also possible.

Artists from previous years

Who: Sigbjørn Bratlie, Norway

What: Born in Norway but currently based in Poland, Sigbjørn Bratlie is an artist inspired by languages. He speaks twelve different languages, including a little Finnish. In his works, the artist strives to look at issues from new perspectives, which brings to the works incisive humour.  

Project in Mänttä: In January 2015 Sigbjørn Bratlie was one of the first artists of Serlachius residency. Early 2015 she mainly worked on her two video installations. On her second residency period in 2019 Bratlie worked especially on her upcoming exhibition in Norway and the masterpiece of it called Colloquiumiawhich is large in size but a very detailed replica of the main page of a Georgian tabloid in september 2017.

 

Who: Nisrine Boukhari, Syria/Austria/Sweden

What: Born in Syria, visual artist Nisrine Boukhari nowadays lives and works in Austria and Sweden. She works diversely through performances, installations, videos, audio and also writing.

Project in Mänttä: Boukhari is interested in the impact of the environment on human behaviour and emotions. In Mänttä, she worked on her long-term project, Wanderism is a State of MindWhat can a wanderer find in Mänttä? In her Aleksanterin linna exhibition, Boukhari presented, among other things, a video work, drawings and the installation Contemplations on Wandering City, which was implemented on the floor of the gallery space. Contemplations on Wandering City.

 

Who: Madelynne Cornish, Australia

What: Austrailian Madelynne Cornish is an audio artist and curator. She documents how climate impacts to natural and built environments. Layered works remind us how people act and shape their environment.  

Projekti Mäntässä: Cornish started her project on Mänttä’s soundscapes in summer 2017. In early spring 2019 she returned to the Serlachius Residency and completed her audiovisual work Muted Landscape. Cornish recorded the sounds and sights of Lake Melasjärvi and the forest nearby the museum. She was particularly interested in the sounds of water and its various states – from the cracking of steel hard ice to the lapping of meltwaters.

 

Who: Andrii Dostliev, Puola

What: Ukrainian Andrii Dostliev lives and works in Poland. As an artist, he is interested in, among other things, visualisations of traumatic experiences and postmemory.

Project in Mänttä: During his residency period, Dostliev addressed national trauma caused by war. The project was oriented in two directions. He interviewed evacuees from Karelia and their descendants and studied their home photo albums, which told tales of lost homes and experiences of migration. In addition, Dostliev toured Finnish museums and archives and reviewed their materials on the same subject. The project will continue after the residency period, as Dostliev aims to convert the results of his research into a work of art.

 

Who: Mikko Kallio, Suomi

What: What: Mikko Kallio is a Tampere-based visual artist who combines in his works various techniques and found materials. He has also produced works for public spaces.

Project in Mänttä: Kallio became known to the people of Mänttä in 2017 when, in an invited competition arranged by the town, his proposal Life of Trees was selected as a work of art to be implemented at the Miinanhelmi day-care centre. During his residency, he completed and installed a follow-up to this commissioned work. In addition, Kallio worked on his new collages. Kallio’s drawing collages on paper and his paintings incorporating found materials are underpinned by their physicality, materials and properties. Collages featuring wonder and play as well as the stages of the Miinanhelmi commissioned work were displayed in an exhibition at Aleksanterin linna.

 

Who: Aino Kannisto & Fabien Blot, Finland

What: Aino Kannisto is an experienced visitor to Mänttä: she was resident for the first time in 2017. Even before that, Kannisto participated in the Gösta Museum’s Touching from a Distance exhibition, which featured works produced in Mänttä by international photographic artists. Fabien Blot is a Finnish-based architect and visual artist, and Kannisto’s spouse.

Project in Mänttä: Blot worked particularly on environmental art, and designed projects located in the middle ground between art workshop and community art. Kannisto continued in Mänttä projects she had begun earlier, in which she staged imaginary situations and captured them on camera. The resulting images are thus constructed photographs in which he creates fictional characters with the aid of costumes and make-up.

 

Who: Maddie Leach, New Zealand/Sweden

What: Maddie Leach, from New Zealand, is an artist and lecturer at the University of Gothenburg who, during her long career, has consistently varied the way she produces her art.

Project in Mänttä: During her residency period, Leach focused on writing: her doctoral thesis and the completion of her Lowering Simon Fraser project. In her art, Leach often addresses alternative politics, highlighting problematic issues in official history and exposing them. For example, her Lowering Simon Fraser study concerns a monument to the explorer Simon Fraser, who lived in the 18th and 19th centuries, and phenomena accompanying it, such as the acceptance of colonialism and the spread of monoculture.

 

Who: Pancho López, Mexico

What: Performance artist Pancho López is a coffee lover who has worked in his native Mexico, including as a curator and director of performance art at Chopo University.

Project in Mänttä: In Mänttä, López implemented his Coffee stories project using seven kilos of coffee. Coffee stories moves in the small moments of everyday life that are, however, significant – they are transformed into memories, images and performances. Do you take milk or sugar in your morning coffee? What happens while you wait for coffee to brew? In addition to local people, López invited to Aleksanterin linna for coffee Mexico’s ambassador to Finland.

 

Who: Who: Marianna Milhorat, USA/Canada

What: Marianna Milhorat, a filmmaker interested in nature and human relationships with nature, visited the Serlachius Residency for the first time in 2016.

Project in Mänttä:In Mänttä, Milhorat continued her project of filming predator tests for dogs. The predator test is a unique Finnish phenomenon during which a dog’s behaviour is judged when it encounters a stuffed predator – a bear, wolf or lynx, perhaps. The dog is ranked on the basis of its aggression or fear, for example. Milhorat compiled her filming of these tests and interviews with those involved into the film Beast Tests.

 

Who: Hollie Miller, UK

What: In her works, the UK artist Hollie Miller addresses, in particular, the female image in both modern and classical ways.

Project in Mänttä: Miller applied to Mänttä in order to learn about Elina Brotherus’ work and way of working, because during Miller’s residency period Brotherus’ exhibition Playground was being shown at Serlachius Museum Gustaf. During her residency period, Miller had the opportunity to meet her idol Brotherus, but also became acquainted with the work of photographer Trish Morrissey, which the Gustav Serlachius Fine Arts Foundation has in its collection. Miller was impressed by the Mänttä landscape, the snow and the January light. The artist captured what she saw in photographs, which she intends to compile into a short film.

 

Who: Guido Mitidieri, Italy/Finland

What: Italian architect, scenographer and artist Guido Mitidieri works particularly in nature, with natural materials. At the same time, he wants to learn more about himself, his heart and our planet.

Project in Mänttä: In spring 2019, Mitidieri was in Mänttä for a design residency, outlining his sculpture Crescita – Growth, to be completed in 2020. In addition to design, Mitidieri implemented a land artwork in the forest close to Gösta Museum nearby forest. The Heart of the Forest installation was created from 37 blocks of woods, whose surfaces the artists shaped by burning. Mitidieri implemented a second work on the door of a 300 year-old barn building on Vehkaniemi farm in Pohjaslahti. The sculpture Un Passegero – A Passenger was also created from natural materials.

 

Who: Roberto Nassi & Valeria Bertesina, Italy

What: Artists couple Roberto Nassi and Valeria Bertesina, live in Vicenza, Italy. Nassi is a poet, critic and translator, Bertesina is an artist, curator and teacher.

Project in Mänttä: Nassi and Bertesina spent December in Mänttä. During their residency period, they were inspired by the nature and culture of Mänttä-Vilppula. As a visual artist, Bertesina is particularly interested in paper artists and during her visit looked forward to meeting Finnish artists who work with paper. Bertesina’s paintings were displayed in an exhibition Variations On a Lake at Aleksanterin linna

 

Who: So Young Park, South Korea

What: So Young Park is a photographic artist from Seoul, South Korea. 

Project in Mänttä: So Young Park came to the Serlachius Residency for the first time in winter 2016, when she used local couples as models for her works. In autumn 2019, she returned to Mänttä to work and to show at Aleksanterin linna her works from the previous couple of years. The exhibition The Night Snow was displayed as a joint exhibition with the RailScapes Group.

 

Who: CTG Collective (11 people)

What: The CTG Collective, founded in connection with Catinca Tabacaru Gallery of New York, is part of a gallery-driven residency trend. At the residency, the artists become familiar with each others’ thinking and work, which also forms the basis for the creation of joint works.

Project in Mänttä: During two weeks of intense work, the CTG Collective worked on multidisciplinary and crossdisciplinary projects focusing on current political, social and environmental debates in Finland. In this way, the diverse cultures of the international artist group were brought into dialogue with local phenomena. At the end of its visit, CTG presented the results of its work in an exhibition at Aleksanteri linna.

 

Who: Yuichiro Sato, Japan/Finland

What: Yuichiro Sato now lives in Laukaa, Finland. The visual artist is inspired by Finnish nature and culture, which he feels approaches the culture of his native country. 

Project in Mänttä: While living in Mänttä, Sato drew and painted his large-scale panel work, Forest – In Between Fantasy and Reality, the visual theme of which is a Finnish spruce forest with its moss-covered surface forms. Sato’s work is amazingly realistic, delicate, detailed and almost monochrome. The finished work was displayed on Sato’s exhibition at the Jyväskylä Art Museum in summer 2019. In spring 2020, it will also be seen in the artist’s home country, Japan.

 

Who: RailScapes Group (Jyrki Siukonen & Päivi Mehtonen), Finland

What: Doctor of Fine Arts Jyrki Siukonen and Doctor of Philosophy Päivi Mehtonen are Tampere-based working partners connected by railways. Both have addressed the subject in various visual, cultural and literary historical studies.

Project in Mänttä: Jyrki Siukonen and Päivi Mehtonen explored the significance of the railway in Mänttä through art and research. The starting point was the archive collections of Gösta Serlachius Fine Arts Foundation. The focus was not only on the past provided by the archive, but also on the physical track between Mänttä and Vilppula. The track can also be seen as currently dormant but as potential for the future. Siukonen’s and Mehtonen’s exhibition Railscapes: Round Trip was shown at Aleksanterin linna in October. The exhibition included, for example, a miniature model made from archive drawings of Mänttä railway station, which was planned for the site of Mänttä Church, but was never built.

 

Who: Ann Sundholm, Finland

What: Clouds are often a recurring theme in the works of visual artist Ann Sundholm, from Nauvo, Finland.

Project in Mänttä: During her residency period, Sundholm captured the Mänttä industrial landscape, particularly its smoke and steam formations, which look different every day. The residency’s working space, Aleksanteri linna, offered good opportunities for this, as its windows provide direct views of the chimney and changing landscape of Mänttä paper mill. Sundholm also made from papier maché small sculptures, which primarily serve as sketches for the artist’s ideas, but can also be considered independent works.

 

Who: Christopher Kane Taylor, USA

What: Christopher Taylor, who lives in Arizona, USA, creates art particularly around the theme of Super Dad.

Project in Mänttä: In Mänttä, Taylor’s goal was to acquaint himself with the lives of Finnish families with children and to compare it with the situation of families in the USA. The nightless nights of June fascinated the American artist so much, however, that he was inspired to make lyrical watercolour and gouache paintings, in which it was if he was depicting the process of songwriting. Taylor’s own family, who arrived in Mänttä with the artist, were also present during the residency period. Taylor also organised a drawing workshop for local children at Aleksanterin linna.

 

Who: Eero Yrjölä, Finland

What: Eero Yrjölä is a Helsinki-based artist who addresses in their art the theme of power as well as childhood, gender and sexuality.

Project in Mänttä: During their residency period, Yrjölä worked, in particular, on the project The Child in Finnish Contemporary Art. The forthcoming reference and art book will provide an in-depth survey of childhood as one of the central themes of contemporary art. The child of contemporary art can be equated with the child portraits of the Golden Age of Finnish art, which can also be found in the collection of Gösta Serlachius Fine Arts Foundation. Yrjölä’s residency in Mänttä ended with an exhibition entitled Dysforia at Aleksanterin linna. In the exhibition, the artist addressed intense experiences of malaise, conflict and aversion, with which they sought to reveal their own identity has a non-binary visual artist.

 

Who: David Waterworth, UK

What: David Waterworth is a lecturer and curator at Greenwich University, London.

Project in Mänttä: Waterworth investigated how the histories of Mänttä and the collection of Gösta Serlachius Fine Arts Foundation are intertwined. In his project, he pondered this link by collecting short stories and images of everyday objects that the locals connected with the Serlachiuses and the museums. For example, in the memories of one interviewee, woollen slippers are integrally associated with Gösta Serlachius Fine Arts Foundation. Waterworth presented the results of his project to a local audience at Aleksanterin linna.

 

Who: Johanna Rossi, Finland

What: Johanna Rossi, from Kuopio, specialises in watercolours made from natural materials.

Project in Mänttä: The purpose of the visual artist Johanna Rossi’s residency period was to study the processes of collecting, making and using watercolours made from plants. Rossi made watercolour tabs from the pigments that she had made before. After grinding and weighing the pigments, they were mixed with binding agents in tab form and allowed to dry. At the end of her residency period, Rossi was able to use the watercolours she had made and to see the movement of the pigments on paper, carried by water.

Serlachius-residenssiin vuodelle 2018 on valittu 24 taiteilijaa, taiteilijaryhmää tai tutkijaa kahdeksasta eri maasta. Kaikkiaan residenssiin saatiin 109 hakemusta 29 maasta.

Ignacio Acosta, Chile
Kate Bae, USA/Etelä-Korea
Claudio Beorchia, Italia
Céline Berger, Ranska
Winnie Chan, Iso-Britannia
Unski Antti Immonen ja Jussi Meuronen, Suomi
Emmu Johansson, Suomi
Mikael Kinanen ja Vili Nissinen, Suomi
Heli Konttinen, Suomi
Esa Laaksonen, Finland
Johanna Lecklin, Suomi
Sami Maalas, Suomi
Marianna Milhorat, Suomi
Maija Santala, Suomi
Miya Sukune, Suomi
Kalle Mustonen ja Outimaija Hakala, Suomi
Suvi Nurmi, Suomi
Steven Randall, USA
Työryhmä Turbida Lux: Pedro Riva ja Lucila Mayol, Argentiina
Agita Steinberga ja Andris Marackovskis, Latvia
Berglind Erna Tryggvadóttir, Islanti
Kirsimaria Törönen-Ripatti, Suomi
Kimmo Ylönen, Suomi
Jenni Yppärilä, Suomi

Acosta, Ignacio, Englanti
Alicja, Rosé, Puola
Allonen, Päivi, Suomi
Anderson, Amy, USA
Margaux Bez, Ranska
Björke, Lisa + työryhmä, Ruotsi
Boechler, Jared, Kanada
Brander, Pirjetta, Suomi
Chapel, Catherine Maria, Ranska
Cornish, Madelynne, Australia
Djamo, Daniel, Romania
Flemons, Lynne, Australia
Kannisto, Aino + Blot, Fabio, Suomi
Kivikangas Saija, Suomi
Lecklin, Johanna, Suomi
Morozov Alexander, Venäjä
Nissinen, Vili + Kinanen, Mikael, Suomi
Pukki, Leena, Suomi
Salmela, Paula, Suomi
Schneider, Jochen, Saksa
Takala, Anni, Suomi
Ouma, Japani
Ylönen, Kimmo, Suomi
Wai, Isaac Chong, Saksa

Residenssin vuoden 2016 taiteilijat on valittu. Residenssiin saatiin noin 80 hakemusta ympäri maailmaa.

Laura Aish, Iso-Britannia
Tuike ja Simo Alitalo, Suomi
Vivian Charlesworth, USA
Marie-Andrée Godin, Kanada
Mariko Hori, Japani
Naoko Ito, USA
Tuomas Laulainen, Suomi
Marianna Milhorat, USA
Riku Mäkinen, Suomi
Suvi Nurmi, Suomi
Sayaka Ohata & Joseph Mayrhofer-Ohata, Ranska
So Young Park, South Korea
Antje Pehle, Saksa
Marja Pirilä, Suomi
Pedro Riva & Lucila Mayol, Argentiina
Kaisa Salmi, Suomi
Ella Tahkolahti, Suomi
Antti Turkko, Suomi

Tuike ja Simo Alitalo, Turku
Pirjo Berg, Yhdysvallat
Johanna Björkman, Helsinki
Heidi Maria Björklund, Helsinki
Sigbjörn Bratlie, Norja
Ninni Heldt, Helsinki
Päivi Häkkinen ja työryhmä, Helsinki
Raija Kallioinen ja työryhmä, Helsinki
Nathan Kelly, Yhdysvallat
Ville Lenkkeri, Ruotsi/Suomi
Suvi Leukumaavaara, Helsinki
Jolene Mok, Hong Kong
Takeshi Moro, Yhdysvallat
Christoph Mügge, Saksa
Pälvi Myllylä, Valkeakoski
Auri Mäkelä, Tampere
Mayumi Niiranen-Hisatomi, Kajaani
Julia Norton, Yhdysvallat
Suvi Nurmi, Helsinki
Antje Pehle, Saksa
Jonna Salonen, Helsinki
Sanna Sarva ja työryhmä, Helsinki
Antero Toikka, Helsinki
Ilkka Väätti, Tampere

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