Pennanen, Jaakko

Garden of relicts

2024 /  Art work placement

The main references for this work are the numerous depictions of paradise with their lush
gardens and plants throughout art history. Plant symbolism has an important role in this
imagery.
The human need of giving meaning to our surroundings intrigues me – how we look upon
nature and instantly begin to analyze and categorize it. This starts with giving plants names and
goes on in various ways: plant symbolism, medical plants, edible plants, plants in tales and
stories, plants in national landscapes, planted forests, exotic plants in faraway lands and so on.
In my sculpting process I allow the original subject to become abstracted. This transformation
of the subject is parallel to the human need of giving meaning to things we see. Thus, when
sculpting, one makes visible the need to interpret and give meaning – also on the material level;
wood becomes fantasy. I strive to get a simple and expressive form out of the material. The
colour on the surface of the sculpture serves to unify its form and on the other hand the colour
also alienates the sculpture from its surroundings.
The wood used for this sculpture has not been cut down for this work. The trees have
been cut down for other reasons in private gardens and I have then gotten to use them
for sculpting.
This quote from Anthony Marais's essay collection “Delusionism” serves well as an ending:
“Humanity is as horrified and repulsed by real nature as it is by real death. Thus, we strike back
against this formidable opponent with our sharpest weapon: our imagination. From this noble
tool – born of necessity and elevated to beauty – culture was born, and the war against nature
begun.”

Images

Interview