Ulla-Mari Lindström: Wing-scaled and Feather-tailed – At the Origins of Life

In her exhibition Ulla-Mari Lindström presents a secret society of imagined flora and fauna, where evolution no longer follows Darwinian logic – or if it does, it plays by entirely its own rules. In this world, species evolve like anarchists on their own paths: by trial, error, and sudden insight. Here, nature is no longer familiar or safe – but wild and warped.

The works are speculative nature-delusions: hypotheses laced with humor about what might happen if biodiversity were given free rein and taxonomy – scientific classification – forgotten. These are lifeforms from a world where life itself has abandoned the rules – and chosen to improvise. Fragile, strange, and persistent. Perhaps that’s what makes them so alive.

“My materials are remnants of biological cycles, such as leaves, twigs, bark, algae, membranes, and fins. By collecting and rearranging them, fictional organisms emerge – forms that exist in the in-between of science, myth, and aesthetic inquiry. They are fragments that don’t belong together – but look like they do. They don’t explain themselves, nor do they apologize for existing.”

Natural science serves as both a foundation and a source of inspiration. In particular, deep-sea hydrothermal vents – black and white smokers – offer a starting point for contemplating the origins of life. Near them lies a strange world untouched by sunlight, where life begins in heat, pressure, and chemical energy. These structures, spewing boiling water and minerals, sustain an ecosystem unlike any other in the biosphere.

Its inhabitants resemble a forgotten branch of earthly biology: translucent, oddly delicate, and yet incredibly resilient – examples of an alternative possibility. They remind us that life can emerge and endure even in extreme conditions.

“My works are attempts to understand nature’s logic. They are at once familiar and foreign, amusing and slightly unsettling. Perhaps they are messages from the future. Or nightmares from the past. Or perhaps they simply are.”

Ulla-Mari Lindström is a photographic and media artist, as well as a nature-inspired researcher based in Kuopio, Finland. Since 2014, she has worked on a series titled Natural-Artistic Collection, exploring nature through the lens of an artist and constructing imaginative hybrids and media installations from her observations. Her work addresses serious topics through humor and visual experimentation.

Lindström’s works have been exhibited in numerous solo and group shows in Finland and abroad. She has public artworks installed at Puijonsarvi School and Kuopio University Hospital. Her works are currently on view in the exhibition Magical at KUMMA, and in Vedestä – On Water at the Scandic Hotel in Kuopio. She will also take part in the upcoming M_itä? Contemporary Art Biennale in autumn 2025 in Kuopio.