Kindred – Living in the Landscape : Metsänpeitto/Forest hides, 2025

My piece looks into the old Finnish craft tradition of wool embroidery on sleigh
blankets. These traditional blankets were embroidered with plant dyed yarns and nature- and culture-based motifs. My blanket is a part of the contemporary artist collective Embroidered Stances. It takes an activist stance on current sociocultural issues and embroiders them with traditional materials but with new approaches.

My second blanket Metsänpeitto/Forest hides is about endangered species
in the northern forests. The name Metsänpeitto originates from an old Finnish
folklore that refers to the secrecy of forests, where all familiar seems to have
turned upside down. The topics of my embroidery touch the changes in our na-
ture-culture relationship and kinship with forests. The twist is that the changes
are caused by humans by either utilising nature too harshly or by stopping the old traditional chores altogether. These old, gentle agricultural chores used to help forest biodiversity remain rich. In the environmental crises, I always try to seek aspects of hope, the good deeds of humans to highlight the positive effects of traditional living in kinship with nature.