2024

This year I have been working with a commission from Helsinki City, that will be finished in 2025. It consists of a bronze sculpture and a sound installation. This has taken most of my time, but I have made some paintings, drawings and other sculptures as well. I will post more pictures in connection to a future exhibition.

It was somehow a natural transition to start working with sculptures. I paint them like I paint on paper or canvas. I work with paper mache that I make from ecologically recycled organic fibers, homemade glue and a little bit of other stuff. As a frame I sometimes use materials I find at flea markets or in a backyard, sometimes insulation boards and the like from the hardware store. The best thing about paper mache is it can be shaped directly by hand, and it lends itself so well to painting. When dry, it's light and easy to handle. My method is very slow – it takes several months to make a sculpture, because the layers have to dry.

“I Want to Burn” - a guide for birds who want to visit the Phoenix constellation, 2024, paper mache, cardboard, urethane foam, plaster, metal, plastic, lime paint, gouache, acrylic paint, 140x45x45 cm

"Haluan palaa” - opas linnuille, jotka haluavat vierailla Phoenix-tähdistössä, 2024, paperimassa, pahvi, uretaanivaahto, kipsi, metalli, muovi, kalkkimaali, guassi, akryylimaali, 140x45x45 cm

"Jag vill brinna" - en guide för fåglar som vill besöka stjärnbilden Phoenix, 2024, pappersmaché, kartong, uretanskum, gips, metall, plast, kalkfärg, gouache, akrylfärg, 140x45x45 cm

This work was made for an exhibition project called "Reliefs for Animals", an exchange project between Galleria Huuto in Helsinki and Rostrum Gallery in Malmö, Sweden this autumn. The pedestal is painted with images of birds' eyes. A part of the work is a poem - but it is only in Swedish, I'm sorry, I can't translate it properly. It's inspired by the epic poem Aniara by Harry Martinson (1956).

Exhibition view from Galleri Rostrum in Malmö, 2024. In the background an installation by Linda Roschier: “ The Sound of Oxygen”, 2024.

Exhibition view from Antares Art Center, Finland, in summer 2024.

Three hearts, 2024, paper mache, styrofoam, paint, laqcuer, 40x50x60 cm

White Rose, 2024, paper mache, polystyrene, plastic, wood, paint, lacquer, 80x33x43 cm.

Exhibition view from Laikku Studio, Tampere, 2024

Imaginable Cloud, 2023-2024, paper mache, polystyrene, wood, paint, lacquer, 73x35x40 cm

© Gun Holmström 2025