Master of Fine Arts Blosseville Sara

Exploring väki in art-making, for a practice grounded in the ecosystem

Taiteellinen työ / siihen pohjautuva työ | Kaksivuotinen

In modern Finnish väki means a crowd of people, and in folklore it also refers to animating forces residing primarily in natural features, materials and objects. There are, amongst many, the väki of the earth (maan väki), of the water (veden väki), of the fire (tulen väki), of the forest (metsän väki). As oral tradition researcher Siikala puts it «Väki can be likened to the idea of a mobile energy force whose transference and effect on other entities, as well as the corresponding reactions it receives from other forms of väki» (Myth and Mythology, Anna-Leena Siikala). In the four coming years, I intend to dive into this idea of väki as a metaphor for vitality dwelling in matter and elements, using this vision of natural elements as material semiotic actors in visual art-making. By these means I am locating creation as an eco-systemic driven practice. Each year will be dedicated to focusing on a specific väki, diving into the element’s related craft techniques, poetic and cultural associations. I will develop and prepare sculptural and installation works for local and international solo, duo and group exhibitions, as well as printed publications reporting specific themed research. This is a multidisciplinary project involving sculpture, photography, textile art, popular & agrarian craft techniques, writing and publishing, combining personal practice in the studio and collaborating with artisans and artist colleagues.