A Touch of Finland - Contemporary Crafts from Finland
4 March -4 May 2004

The design talent of contemporary Finnish craft artists is breathtaking. However, there has never been a group exhibition in the UK that highlights their outstanding skills. London's leading crafts gallery, flow is about to change all this.

Located in the heart of design conscious Notting Hill, flow is holding an exhibition of twelve exceptionally talented Finnish craft artists working in wood, textiles, silver, ceramics and glass opening on the 4 March 2004.

Finnish craft is largely inspired by nature. This exhibition includes leading Finnish craft artists who capture the essence of Finland's natural forms and create sculptural pieces with rustic simplicity yet of cosmopolitan elegance and poetic beauty, deeply steeped in tradition of Finnish Craftsmanship.

There will be a special live event during the exhibtion which will present the work of two Finnish fashion and textile designers, Jaana and Paivi Haaksilvoto.

The exhibition is supported by the Finnish Embassy and the Finnish Institute in London aa well as the Arts Council of Britain.

 Ceramics

Karin Widnäs works in clay. Of her work she states: "The sea and its thousand islands are a never-ending energy resource. In my hands - Magic Island-boxes - I have gathered thoughts born in our Finnish archipelago. In my tea set, consisting of cups, teapots and tea strainers, I have combined handles in hazelwood, which I collect from our beautiful hazelgroves."	Kati Tuominen-Niittylä's work is about being in harmony with her materials: colour and form, quick almost sketchy movements: ceramic traditions and searching for something new and timeless at the same time. Her vessels make a reference to the rural traditions of Finland and to ancient vessel forms yet clearly belong to a contemporary Western culture.

Glass

Glass designer Anu Penttinen concentrates on the unique as well as function in glassware. She is interested in the glassblowing process in unison with surface composition, achieved by carving and engraving the glass. Anu is inspired by "different phenomena, from the changing architectural environments and new technologies to the sound-scapes that surround us."

Jewellery and Metalwork

	Janna Syvanoja first began making jewellery from recycled materials to support her student income. Janna uses found paper and books as well as natural materials such as roots, seeds and horsehair to create fluid shell-like forms which are diverse and sensuous. Her work combines the urban environment in which her materials are found with the natural world in which they are from.
Jewellery designer Inni Pärnänen strives to remain unprejudiced with the materials she uses. It is these materials,( such as steamed horn and silver), their characteristics and structure determines the final function of each piece. Inni's work is based on an interlocking three dimensional form, which enables the piece to move and flow
	Eero Lintusaari creates a varied range of jewellery by combining and contrasting diverse materials, from metals to natural fibres. Eero has always been interested in the lightness and delicacy of the fibres and their richness of colour and tone, thus giving an interesting possibility to a wider visual expression. Yet it is the combination of metal and fibre that leads Eero's belief that " it is the metal gives the piece backbone" and "keeps it together", both stylistically and visually.
Marika Kilpio, who is a silversmith, is interested in the transformation of her ideas from two dimensions, a line on paper, to a three dimensional form, "first in my head, later in my hands". Also fascinated by contrast and tension. The final objects she makes consist of elements of humour as well as practical beauty."
	Harri Syjranen seeks balance and tension in the variety of different materials he uses for his jewellery be it coral, amber, silver, wood, lava. Elk horn, ebony.
Maria Jauhiainen in her new work, Lehti, (a vessel for fruit) has translated something extremely fragile and transient in nature into a durable material and made it into a functional piece for the home environment, still maintaining the essence of a delicate leaf.
Textiles
	Ulla-Maija Vikman's work explores the boundaries between textile and visual arts. Her work consists of hundreds of free-falling viscose fibres, which take on an exact rectangular shape. Technique and material are an essential composite of the work, combined with colour and composition. The result is an immaterial surface of thin threads, creating an illusion of flow of colours in abstract designs.
Wood
Markku Kosonen's baskets are a product of working with found materials discovered in his immediate environment. He works with woods such as alder, apple and willow and wood that has been felled and ignored by the timber industry as waste. His pieces are woven and worked into stark sculptural forms often incorporating twigs, leaves and catkins. Each piece is unique and thought provoking. Some forms are inspired by the shapes of the lakes he visits.
	Markku Lyytinen's work is inspired by the plywood sculptures of Tapio Wirkkala. The lines revealed in the birch platters by the working processes, create a strong illusion of space and movement as well as the Finnish landscapes.