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Wednesday, 14 November 2007 | Levent OZLER
The Allure of Form
The Allure of Form is an exhibition presenting products and works by twelve designers and artisans from the South Savo region of Finland. Falling in between design and art, these works consist of interior decoration and utility objects made partly as one-off items and partly in small series. The exhibits share a playful spirit, rich ideas and the skilful use of recyclable materials. The showing is an introduction to future marketing events and presentations involving the works of designers and artisans of the region. The participants of the exhibition and its producer Henri Ulmanen will present their project to the press at 1 p.m. on Thursday 8 November 2007 at Design Forum, Erottajankatu 7 (please note the time).
The exhibition jury selected the participants of The Allure of Form on 8 February 2007, choosing twelve artisans and designers from among 25 candidates. The jury consisted of internationally and nationally noted professionals in design, including director Birna Kristjansdottir of the Arnesinga Museum of Iceland, producer Laila Alanen of Design Forum Finland and Helena Hyvönen, professor of design at the University of Art and Design Helsinki. The secretary of the jury was regional artist Henri Ulmanen, producer of the South Savo Arts Council and also the producer of the exhibition.
 Eeva Pihlasvaara of Savonlinna has a diploma in crafts and design. Her works employ a variety of materials - occasionally things that happen to be available and occasionally material specifically acquired for the purpose: willow, reeds, paper, metal wire and netting, junk and cloth. The pieces for this exhibition were inspired by patches of cloth in a rubbish bin.
Mikko Inkeroinen is a metal artisan and knifesmith living with his family in Mikkeli. He was born in Porvoo, South Finland in 1973, and he graduated with a diploma in metal crafts in December 2006. In 2005, Inkeroinen won the national knife-making championship at Fiskars in the series for utility sheath knives. He has made sheath knives for the past ten years - from forging the blades to shaping the handles and sewing the leather sheaths.
Pauliina Rundgren was born in Lahti in 1975, but has spent almost her whole life in Mikkeli. After graduating in metal crafts and design from the Mikkeli Vocational College in 1999, she established her own company Pauliina Rundgren HandiCrafts. Enamel colours of magnificent sheen give her works an individual and well-finished look. In 2006 Pauliina Rundgren HandiCrafts received the Mikkelin Taito distinction for skill awarded to local crafts and applied art companies. Rundgren's collection of trays from 2006 was awarded the Quality Label for Finnish art and design products.
Merja Nykänen-Naukkarinen, a ceramic artist and sculptor of Pieksämäki, graduated in 1997 from the Varkaus College Crafts and Applied Art. She finds clay to be a highly interesting material. In ceramics knowledge of the material and techniques develops only through work, entailing continuous practice. She describes her art as follows: "The best thing about expression is artistic licence. My works could be described as arrested images or messages without words."
Elina Helminen was born in 1986 in Mikkeli and in 2005 she began her current studies at the Institute of Design of the Lahti University of Applied Sciences. Her works combine old, traditional materials with modern form. Her guidelines are the five design principles of ethics, ecology, aesthetics, ergonomics and economy. At present, she finds birch bark, plastic clay and various recycled materials crossing boundaries to be closest to her. Helminen designs and makes new products ranging from three-dimensional objects to two-dimensional printed items.
Katariina Turman is an entrepreneur from Mikkeli, whose training as a handicrafts teacher, professional experience and business activities stemming from her mother's work in linen have led her to textile products in this material. For two decades, her Raijan Aitta company has focused on linen, with expertise on the various stages of the material, from flax to fibre, thread and fabric. In recent years, a leading role has been given to dyeing, fabric printing and the design and further development of products, for example in the use of ancient rock painting designs on linen fabrics.
Paula Ruuttunen teaches crafts and makes wheel-turned utility ware at Kenkävero in Mikkeli. Her materials are porcelain, stoneware paste and red clay. She is interested in working with a wood-fired kiln and using classic reduction glazes (celadon, oxblood and temmoku). The marks of the flames, the ash glaze effects permitted by the wood-fired kiln and experiments with different firing methods, glazes, shapes and ceramic paste are central themes of Ruuttunen's work.
Pirkko Poméll is a textile designer and artisan from Mikkeli. She is a vocational teacher of crafts and design with a degree from the Wetterhoff institute of the HAMK University of Applied Sciences in Hämeenlinna. Poméll's products employ knitted and woven surfaces of fabric binding combined with various techniques of patterning in colour. She prefers to work with Finnish raw material from nature and recycled materials. "For me, art is like life itself. Opposition, layers and mystery appeal to me with the suggestion that all is not what it seems."
Riitta Turunen's products largely stem from the same starting points and aims as her textile works. The old textiles - lace, cloths and rag-rugs - that she applies in her applied art products bear time and life as experienced. The touch of the hand can still be sensed. Turunen aims at functional products combining lyricism and practical products.
Tarja Karonsuo has always been involved with making things by hand and creative activity in its various forms. Painting, play with colour, form and material, and everyday things permit her to discover new worlds and tranquillity. The world is already full of materials, including things made by me. In my works, I also seek to utilize things that already exist, from patches of (waste) fabric and lengths of yarn to flecks of paint on a palette. I use recycled materials in both my textile works and paintings. With my works, I seek to crate and express something new, to combine past and present with respect for tradition."
Tiina Kylliäinen makes art and utility objects from old, used bottles, glass objects and their fragments, sherds and window glass, in addition to painting. The marks of life on fragments and glass are things of beauty that lend depth to the materials. "Glass is transparent, and when an object is assembled from old materials you see not only the piece, but through it and beyond to the earlier time of the fragments..."
Tuula Kähkönen is a bookbinder from Savonlinna making small editions and one-off works of hand-bound books, folders, boxes and cards. She works with both traditional and modern methods, using leather, hand-made paper and prints and fabrics as her materials.
The Allure of Form
9 November-2 December 2007
Design Forum Finland, Space1
Erottajankatu 7, Helsinki
Mon-Fri 10 am-7 pm, Sat 10 am-6 pm, Sun. Noon-6 pm
Exhibition information tel. +358 (0)9 6220 8132. Free entrance
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