In October and November, Pikene på Broen hosted artist Riikka Keränen from Ristijärvi in the Kainuu region of Finland, as part of our new Nordic/Baltic residency programme supported by Nordic Culture Point. Keränen graduated with a degree in sculpture from the Kankaanpää School of Fine Art in 2010 and describe her work as “comparable to play, as an intuitive action and dialogue with the material spectrum of the world”.
Keränen participated in Pikene på Broen’s Sweetness of Living Test-Lab in August, while also investigating local clay and sand in the Sør-Varanger area. In the October/November residency, she collected clay from different local areas and worked on four sculptural elements with the working title “Thinking About Warmth” that will be part of the Barents Spektakel festival 2022. Three of the sculptures are made as ovens, that can be heated with wood. The local mining company Sydvaranger AS provided one of their vacant buildings in Bjørnevatn for Keränen to use as a working studio during her stay.
We look forward to welcoming Riikka back again in February and seeing what will happen next in the process!
