Suutari X Salmiaitta - Florilegia

Aki Suutari’s sculptures speculate on how plants might become in the future without human intervention. Some pieces have references to world origin myths from religions, beliefs and fairytales, as well as the relationships between humanity and plants. Suutari bases his sculptures in part on research findings on Earth’s geological eras and how they have affected the development of life and, in particular, plants. Each piece is underpinned by an imagined scenario on what has affected the formation of the plant and why it has ultimately taken the form that it has. Aki Suutari lives and works in Säkylä.

Udi Salmiaitta is an aquarellist from Kotka. Salmiaitta’s paintings are portraits of the flora of forest floors, wastelands and seashores. The paintings include references to iconography and folklore plant symbology. Salmiaitta’s work has a strong focus on the local environment as well as critical deep ecological and spiritual themes. Each work is an artistically independent piece, but they also contribute to the documentation of the natural flora of the island of Kotkansaari at a time when manmade loss of plant diversity is worse than ever before.

Florilegia is Latin and translates literally to the picking of flowers, but it is also a medieval term for a practice of interpreting holy texts in which elements of the text, the “flowers”, are rearranged into new compilations. The name, referring to a plurality of such works, is descriptive of the pieces in this exhibit both directly and indirectly. Salmiaitta’s paintings portray plants they have picked, but the work is also a slow study of their environment, an interpretation of materials and structures and a recreation of them on paper as novel bouquets. Suutari assembles new species of plants in his sculptures, based on established knowledge of evolution, but at the same time, peers into the world of lore and mythology. The artworks in this exhibition engage in a dialogue of form and material. Despite their differing methods, the themes of each artist’s works are similar: they look at the world precisely and playfully, and their pieces guide the viewer to pay attention to nature’s details. Florilegia is the eighth shared exhibit by Udi Salmiaitta and Aki Suutari. The works have been accomplished thanks to grants by Taiteen edistämiskeskus and the city of Kotka.