Meltosjärvi: raanu

My piece is connected to the women of my family and their handicraft traditions. Like most of the older women in the North, they have always been active in producing utility items by knitting, weaving and sowing. They have produced woven tapestries (Raanu), carpets, clothes primarily for everyday use, secondarily for pleasure or decoration. I have come to realise I practice the same mentality of prioritising utility over creativity. In all my works, I find myself trying to answer their fundamental question of “kannattaako sitä?” (“what is the use?”). To me, it is both a sustainable and a paralysing way of thinking. Thus I have started to examine it in everything I do. My Raanu is primarily a piece of art representing my family landscape of Meltosjärvi, but it also turns into a creative pile of wood blocks for my children’s imaginary plays. So, that’s its use.