Inside Crafted Connections: first weeks of the residency

Cécile Gray & Hanna-Kaisa Korolainen: from contrast to harmony

For Hanna-Kaisa and Cécile, the starting point was an obvious contrast. 

While both work with textiles, Hanna-Kaisa’s felt needling and tufting are almost the opposite of Cécile’s delicate structures made from golden metal wire. Their challenge, therefore, was not simply to bring two techniques together, but to develop a visual language that could make space for both. 
 
Nature provided an important point of connection. The pair spent time drawing together in Hanna-Kaisa’s garden, looking at vegetation and flowers as a shared source of inspiration.  

“At the end of the day, there’s a lot of geometry that can be found in plants”, Cécile explains. 

Meanwhile the combination of the two artist’s styles may be surprising, they already see the possibility of meeting again for another exhibition or developing the work further if the current experiments succeed: 

“(We could) at least come back together for another exhibition in the future. And if the works of this residency turn out good, we could perhaps propose them to a European Textile Biennal. There are a lot of them in many many different countries”, Hanna-Kaisa states. 

For the woodworkers Paul and Pierre-Henri, the collaboration began with a different kind of spark: both wanted to work with the marquetery technique, in which Pierre-Henri is specialized, but the blades available at Paul’s workshop weren’t adapted to this decorative technique. 

Historically, marquetry was described as “wood painting” where thin veneers of different species of wood were assembled to imitate brushstrokes, landscapes and light. 

However, this French-Finnish duo decided to turn the original idea of “wood painting” inside out:  they are designing their own, wooden tools—rollers, stamps, brushes and other implements—to create colour and patterns on veneer. The marked veneer will then be cut and incorporated into the marquetry itself, bringing the project back to marquetery’s initial idea. 

The tools are therefore not merely means to an end: they become part of the pair’s attempt to develop a new visual language.  

The residency has allowed both artists to discover the woodwork cultures of their respective countries. One of the discoveries that Paul has had while working with Pierre-Henri is the 400-hundred-year-old history of marquetery, bringing with it a set of know-how and rules, as well as Pierre-Henri’s more experimental style. For Pierre-Henri, it’s the Finnish wood that has been particularly interesting: 

“In France, […] I’m working with a lot of different kinds of wood, from all over the world. (Here), we are working with what we’ve found in Finland. […] And I think it’s part of your culture in how you make your chairs, your own design. The nature can still be seen in the final products.” 

When Karelle first saw Merileena’s work online, she felt an immediate connection. She had previously travelled to Japan and developed an interest in Japanese techniques and materials, particularly the importance given to emptiness and space. Merileena recognised something similar in Karelle’s work: a shared interest in natural materials, calm and the creation of space for people to simply be. 
 
The first objects are trays inspired partly by Japanese tea culture. The artists wanted to find a way to combine their crafts on something both practical and sculptural. The experiments include clay and bamboo, with the two materials being integrated into the same objects. Even during the exhibition at Stockmann, the audience will have a chance to sit down with Merileena for a cup of tea.

Besides the tea culture, Merileena is particularly interestesd in stones and their rounded, irregular forms. This led the duo towards the second part of their collaboration: a small village of nests, with birds and connecting structures.  

“Even with this nest, it sort of started with the stones and the shape of the stones. I suggested that idea (of nests) to Karelle, also because my dad was cutting some wood at our summer home and then there was a lot of extra material. So I got this idea that there could be a really long stick ladder that leads to the nest, like all the way to the floor. And then Karelle suggested the ladders could go from one nest to another and that she could add the birds in there.” 

Underneath the playfulness of the bird nests lies the same concern that brought them together in the first place: creating a peaceful space for the viewer.