Finnish artist EMMA JÄÄSKELÄINEN won a commission to show her Proper Omelette exhibition at Helsinki’s Kiasma Museum from July to November. She gave us a walkthrough of the works…
Proper Omelette – such a cool name!
It was a joke at first – a working title – but it refers to something domestic. The exhibition is based around everyday items, things collected from my grandmother and so on. This atrium is such a large space, so it was a challenge to fill it with such small things, but the natural light works really well with my stone sculptures.
When I think of sculpture, I also think of design. With designers and architects such as Alvar Aalto, Finland is known for its design culture. Do you fit into that?
I think there’s always a pressure to be too ‘designy’, and hopefully I haven’t fallen into that. But I certainly fit their desire to be sustainable. This wool here for example, it’s Finnish… but so much of our wool comes from Australia and New Zealand. We need to do so much more to be environmentally conscious.
How much help do you get with your sculptures?
For this project, a lot. My mum helped with the sculpting and my boyfriend helped with the stone. I oversaw the project, but there’s just so much physical work I couldn’t do alone. I got the commission last June, but I’d say it took about half a year to just source the material.
Proper Omelette is at the Kiasma Museum in Helsinki until 22nd November.
This article has also been published in Nordic Style Magazine.
Fika 