HANNA KANTO

Unknown Land

24 October - 23 November, 2014

Korjaamo Galleria

Töölönkatu 51 B, 00250 Helsinki

 

Korjaamo Galleria proudly presents for the first time the awaited Hanna Kanto’s impressive, poetic and on the other hand strong paintings. The artist originates from Tornio and is inspired of the rugged landscape and the traditional culture of her northern homeland. The north is truly close to her heart. With a skillful, often three-dimensional composition and a masterful brushwork Kanto leads also the viewer into the magical atmosphere of Lapland.

 

Large paintings tell stories about people wandering across the barred landscape. Kanto finds topics partly also from her own everyday life. Alongside painting she practices local sources of livelihood such as reindeer care, fishing and traditional saami handicrafts. The reality is colored by a touch of fantasy, which on the other hand extends the viewers imagination. Kanto paints bradly gloomy light as well as piercing darkness of the winter. She is a brilliant landscape painter, who manages to create with well-considered minimalism an intensive ambience. In the middle of the hazy landscape precise details bring essential contrast and often form the whole arc of the story. A scarce color palette and a carefully build composition form the cornerstone of the paintings.

 

The thematic arc of the paintings is supported by a concern about the disappearance of a unique cultural environment. Kanto criticizes the changes happening in Lapland and the shortsightedness of people’s actions. Even though certain nostalgia and sorrow is present, the paintings are above all elegiac shots of the beautiful northern landscape and it’s original and rich cultural heritage.

 

Hanna Kanto (b. 1981) graduated 2007 from the University of Lapland. She has exhibited in Finland and elsewhere in Europe. Kanto works partly as art pedagogue in her hometown Haaparanta.