KAISU KOIVISTOParallel Systems 27.5.2004 – 13.6.2004

Dirty and clean, 2004
cow horns, plastic
90 x 141 x 37 cm

Kaisu Koivisto (b. 1962), the Young Artist of the Year 1996, is renowned for her unique use of materials. She makes her sculptures out of steel, animal materials and objects found in flea markets. She combines these varied parts in a way marked by her individualistic touch - the marriage of human "refined" materials and their opposites, "unrefined" materials.

In her sculptures and felt tip drawings Kaisu Koivisto deals with issues on a general level, taking a step backward - matters relating to all people and the entire way of the world, not just reflections of self. Koivisto´s art, in my opinion, has that special classic ‘something´ that art has been renowned for through the ages. Apart from being esthetically powerful, her works contain a message and a meaning which is both spiritual and universal. The works make the spectator reflect on the deepest meaning of existence, its structures and human beings as part of nature.

Koivisto´s work also underlines the special role of human beings as part of the universe. Nature meets man. Bones - which humans also, after all, consist of - are combined in all their honesty with structures which could have only been achieved as the result of human consciousness.

The title of the exhibition, "Parallel Systems", refers to, alongside these split worlds, the continuing paradox of finding a balance between order and chaos. According to Koivisto this can be seen in a small scale in the changing moods of people and in a massive scale as events affecting thousands of people, such as wars and natural disasters.

Rauli Heino

 
  • koivisto/2004/koivisto-1

    Big Bad, 2004
    steel, cow hornbones
    174 x 190 x 110 cm

  • koivisto/2004/koivisto-2

    Bocca della Veritá (The mouth of truth), 2004
    galvanized steel, cow jawbones
    55 x 54 x 42 cm

  • koivisto/2004/koivisto-3

    Almost as strong as steel, 2003
    steel, wood, enamel, porcelain
    207 x 100 x 155 cm

  • koivisto/2004/koivisto-4

    Almost as strong as steel, 2003 (detail)
    steel, wood, enamel, porcelain
    207 x 100 x 155 cm

  • koivisto/2004/koivisto-6

    Ferris wheel, 2004
    steel, cow teeth, plastic
    56 x 56 x 15 cm

  • koivisto/2004/koivisto-9

    Kitchens are dangerous places, 2004
    steel, wood, enamel
    146 x 48 x 44 cm

  • koivisto/2004/koivisto-7

    Dirty and clean, 2004
    cow horns, plastic
    90 x 141 x 37 cm

  • koivisto/2004/koivisto-10

    Breathing forms, 2004
    ink and aquarelle on paper
    56 x 76 cm

  • koivisto/2004/koivisto-11

    Amorphic, 2004
    ink and aquarelle on paper
    56 x 76 cm

  • koivisto/2004/koivisto-13

    Obsession, 2004
    ink on paper
    56 x 76 cm

  • koivisto/2004/koivisto-14

    Black eggs, 2004
    ink on paper
    56 x 76 cm

  • koivisto/2004/koivisto-15

    Vanishing point II, 2004
    ink on paper
    56 x 76 cm

  • koivisto/2004/koivisto-16

    The return of the prodigal son, 2004
    ink and aquarelle on paper
    36 x 50 cm

 
 
 
 
 
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