NOBA Nordic Baltic contemporary art platform

Midday blooming, 2022

164 x 98 cm
€5000

Granite, marble and pinetree


Modern human nature relationship interests me. The nature is not the same and we have lot of issues with it. We do not anymore live like people use to live together with nature. All the explanations came from the nature and gods in the mythology were very close to the nature.


I have made series of four figures where I spoke about how important it is still today have harmony with the nature. Together I call all of them Ladies of the forest. We can not survive without it. Reason why my figures are all female characters is that females used to be powerful mythical figures in finnish mythology. Something happened in the history and now females had to fight to be same level with the men.


I choosed to make series of four because we have four main elements, four seasons, four forest types and four parts of the day(, morning, midday, evening and night.).I wanted to mix all those things so I can make them present one time of the year, one time of the day and one element of the nature.


Midday Summer is portrait of Summer, fire and farmness. We need fire and sun for blooming in the nature. Figure is looking for the fingers where are the black small flowers. Small black flowers present Ukraine war. War is the most dangerous thing which can happen for the nature. many of the forests and fields have been destroyed in battlefields. Nuclear weapons are the biggest risk for the environment. Those small flowers are like the darkness in the future.

Abstract Granite part present fire and I wanted it come out of the marble head. I got inspiration from stone gods from egypt where they used to put circles and other abstract shapes to show gods power, like Ra had always sun over his head. I was thinking the fields of flowers in the summertime. Flowers have many symbolism, but I like to think the flowers arounf the figure present healing.


The reason why heads are made of stone is that the ground in the nature is always stone. If you dig enough you will find stone from the ground. Traditional house making they used stones in the bottom. If it was made badly the full house will collapse. same is in human mind. The head is the most important part of the body.


The White body parts are not paint. I wnated to use as musch as possible natural colors and things you can find when you go to the forest. The color is made of marble dust and beewax. the black in the flowers is natural ink.


I think all my figures are more like 3D landscape paintings. That is one reason why I did not wanted them to be anatomy right they can be like somkind of plants bythemselfs.

My works wood parts have been cracked, but that has been part of the thing all the time. I want them slowly get more and more broken like nature does in human hands.


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Evening mist by Essi Pitkänen
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Lady of the forest by Essi Pitkänen
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Moonlight at the ocean by Essi Pitkänen
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