Dear Francisca,

here are the multiple pieces called Carrying. They are made of birch and aluminium. The pieces are attached into the clothing with needle and thread, by sewing like the main piece (the image i sent 2 days ago) which is called Carrying around.

You asked me if I would tell something about these works…

Carrying around people, woods, surroundings. Different cities, streets, parts of. They are in me. I was intrigued by left behind things which we keep carrying around as images, scents or stories. Things like wooden furniture, landscapes or the feeling which makes you feel at home.

What to take with me – layers of comfort and forgetting. Vague memories. Left behind are like shadows carved into the wood. Next to skin. Under your jacket. Or something to show others where you from.

I wanted to use birch which is a very common wood in Finland. We use it for everything: heating the house, making furniture, cutlery, ornaments, using it as decoration in mid-summer party  etc. I like the lightness and texture in it.  Aluminium I wanted to use for its whiteness and coldness. As you know how fascinated I am with snow and it’s shades.

We were exchanging images of shadows, maps, lines…Through the conversations the work started to grow. With the first look it reminds a map. With a second look it reveals people, place and parts of…

From middle of snow banks and -25 degrees in winterland,

Nelli