Anatomy of doubtful nature , 2025

Ceramics, glazes, steel, cast glass, concrete, hop plant

The sculpture was born out of a need to shift attention to the fact that the vital role of plant life to all living beings can no longer be overlooked. The artistic process explored what it means to work with and for a plant while remaining true to artistic expression. The work carries within traces of local histories and a projection toward a hypothetical, dystopian future. The hop plant caught the artist’s attention through the garden of the house she inhabits, built in the 1940s for evacuees from Karelia. With Karelian roots herself and a family tradition of plant cultivation, the artist discovered that hops were once agriculturally significant in Finland. In the 18th century, the law required every landowner to grow a pole’s worth of the plant. The regulation is still technically present in Finnish law today. Beyond its local significance, hops carry a floriographical meaning of injustice, bitterness, and endurance. In the art work, this symbolism intertwines with personal and regional histories, as well as the context of the climate crisis. Rust spreads from the base of the sculpture like a wound that refuses to be hidden. From this corrosion rises growth. The skeletal ceramic form transforms into an armour. Anatomy of Doubtful Nature is a part of Johanna Sulalampi’s artistic master thesis and was exhibited at the Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki in the summer of 2025. During the exhibition, she cared for the plant daily. The sculpture has since been passed on to a private collector in Finland.