Kaisu Koivisto

Kaisu Koivisto (b. 1962)

Kaisu Koivisto’s artistic practice is rooted in the environment she lives and works in. Inspired by the rough wilderness of the North and the signs of human activity in the environment, she asks: How do we look at nature and animals? What is nature? How is the impact of technologies visible in the environment?

Koivisto’s interest in cultivated and restrained nature leads her to metropolises as well as to areas which no longer are in focus of international geopolitical attention; places in a dreamy state of oblivion such as former Cold War nuclear missile bases in Eastern Europe. Left to the elements the massive structures of the abandoned areas erode and become engulfed by vegetation. As a continuation of her long-term projects in redundant military areas, Koivisto will focus on the buildings and the environment of the historical fortress island of Suomenlinna.

Photography, drawing, video and sculpture are integral aspects of Kaisu Koivisto’s works. The transience of materials is a connecting factor of her sculptures and lens-based works. She is interested in an ambivalent aesthetic, the simultaneity of attractiveness and repulsiveness, the synthetic and the organic, stark geometry and the ornamental.

Kaisu Koivisto’s works have been shown for instance in the following institutions: Museo Hendrik Christian Andersen, Rome; Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki; Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid; PS 1, New York; Kumu Art Museum, Tallinn, Estonia; Tokyo Metropolitan Museum, Galleria Sculptor, Helsinki; Pori Art Museum, Pori.