Acquisitions Young Talent from Finland

Thanks to the gift of a private sponsor the Françoise van den Bosch Foundation was able to acquire work by young talented artists from Finland. After buying jewellery from Dutch, German and Australian artists, it was the fourth time that we focused on young talents. Young Talent was started in 1999 as a counterpart to the Françoise van den Bosch Prize, which is meant as a recognition to a renowned artist. In this way the Foundation aims at stimulating young, promising artists too.

Without the gift of this private supporter of the Foundation, this would not have happened. We like to thank him, once more.

 

Kimmo Heikkilä (1970) studied at the South Carelia Polytechnic in Lappeenranta, department of jewellery and stonework, and at the Estonian Art Academy in Tallin. Now he is studying at the University of Art en Design in Helsinki, for a MA-degree.

The foundation acquired two pieces of jewellery, a Measure Ring and a 6xBrooch, which have a humorous character. With the aid of simple means and ready-made materials, like tape measure and safetypins, he manages to create an appealing image.

 

Kimmo Heikkilä: “When creating pieces of jewellery I’m not interested in intellectual themes behind the work and the working process. I rather just pick up observations and feelings from the surrounding environment and transform them to three-dimensional form. I hope my weird, dry sense of humour come over to the spectator.”

Terhi Tolvanen (1968) studied at the Lahti Design Instituut in Lahti, at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and at the Sandberg Instituut , both in Amsterdam. She lives and works in Amsterdam, since 1993.

The foundation acquired two pieces of jewellery from her most recent exhibition Substralia, which concentrated on nature. Thanks to its measurements and intensive treatment of the materials, the brooch Flos Bipetalus is a most impressive jewel. The brooche is made from mother-of-pearl, rutil, gold, and silver, on a polystyrene basis. The ring Prima Gemmula is made of compressed woodfibres; the green coloured glass stones are set in a structure made of aquamarine coloured silk.

 

From the catalogue Substralia (Galerie Louise Smit, 2004) :

“Years of living and working in the busy heart of Amsterdam have influenced her. Here nature is designed and man-made. She doubts that nature would have infiltrated her work in quite the same way if she had remained living in the wilderness of her native Finland… Her current jewellery is more serious, more reflective than before. She calls the pieces her plants. They are succulent like cactuses or thick and fleshy plants. For her they are the survivors.” (Merimari Kimpanpää)

 

The jewellery and stonework department at the South Carelia Polytechnic started as a crafts education for stonecutters. Meanwhile the department developed into an interesting school for jewellery, under the inspiring influence of Eija Mustonen, who runs the department. Tarja Tuupanen is one of her students who is specialized in stonecutting.

  

The foundation acquired two neckpieces by her: a fragile construction made of smokey quartz and steel wire, and a sturdy construction made of black granite.

 

Tarja Tuupanen: “The main material in my work is stone, which I love for its versatility and challenging nature, and hate for its trickyness and limitations. I carve the stone thin, sometimes to its edge, looking for boundaries and interesting sides of the material. The forms in my jewellery often remind of the human body. My subjects have been women’s life, mythology and history, and man and  masculinity. I am interested in human, how different genders differ from each other and how they are the same. At the moment I am studying peoples territories and personal spaces and  areas in general.”